wo top US military officials on wednesday held
crucial meetings with the
Pakistani military leadership and demanded an
early reopening of NATo supply
routes, a contentious issue currently
being debated in the joint session of
parliament convened to discuss the
recommendations prepared by the
Parliamentary Committee on National
Security (PCNS) on ‘future terms of
engagement’ with the United States.
The American military officials,
General James N Mattis, commander US Central Command and
General John Allen, commander
ISAF, also discussed with Pakistan’s
military leaders some vital proposals
to resolve the row between Islamabad and washington over the drone
strikes in Tribal Areas.
US has offered Pakistan to slash
the list of targets for drone attacks in
the Tribal Areas and limit it only to
top al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, instead of hitting all miscreants and
that too when those few attacks are
approved by Pakistani authorities.
General Mattis and General John

Allen, who arrived on a surprise visit
amidst debate in the parliament over
review of relations with the US, first
called on General Khalid Shameem
wynne, the chairman of Joint Chiefs
of Staff Committee and met Army
Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
later in the evening to discuss ways to
improve strained bilateral relations.
General Kayani told the visiting US
military officials that the NATo attack
on Pakistani checkposts in Mohmand
Agency last year was an assault on Pakistan’s sovereignty and there must be
an unconditional apology on part of US
for that, according to officials privy to
the talks.General Mattis was earlier
asked by Pakistani authorities to put off
his visit until the completion of parliamentary review of Pakistan-US relations and his visit now to Islamabad
before that suggested the thaw in relations between the two major countries
in anti-terrorism global alliance.
It is also significant that the US
military officials visited Islamabad in
the wake of important meeting between President Barack obama and
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in
Seoul recently on the sidelines of an
international summit on nuclear security. “General James N Mattis and
General John Allen remained with

Haqqani may
seek political
asylum in US
ISLAMABAD
TAhIR NIAz

Kayani asks US generals to wait for parliament’s
review of terms of ties with Washington
ShAIq hUSSAIN

PAGE |22

ISAF Commander Gen John Allen (L) and US
CENTCOM chief Gen James Mattis (R). file photo
General wynne for some time and
discussed bilateral matters professional interests, and the emerging
geo strategic situation of the region,”
said a brief ISPR statement. Earlier,
another ISPR statement only stated
that US military officials would call
later in the day on General Kayani to
discuss cross border coordination
and investigations into ‘Salala post’
attack by NATo aircraft.
The meeting between visiting
American generals and the army
chief took place late in the evening,
but there was no official version of
what transpired in the crucial
talks. Nonetheless, a security official said the US military officials
asked for early reopening of
blocked NATo supply routes saying delay in this regard was causing
harm to ongoing counter-terrorism

campaign in Afghanistan. “General
Kayani told the US officials that the
matter is now before the parliament which will decide about the
resumption of NATo supplies, so
the US needs to wait until that happens,” the official said.
Another Pakistani official,
who sought anonymity, said that
the US officials also discussed
with Pakistani military officials
the differences over drone strikes
and proposed that drone attacks
could be limited and only the top
militants’ leadership would be hit
in future instead of targeting all
alleged terrorists in the tribal
areas. “Pakistan Army leadership,
however, told the US officials that
drone strikes had proven to be
counter-productive so they need
to be stopped,” he said.

Anticipating an adverse
decision from the apex
court or the memo
commission, former
ambassador to the US
Husain Haqqani is all
set to seek political
asylum in the US, it has
been learnt reliably.
In case the memo
commission issues arrest
warrants for Haqqani
after possible rejection by
the Supreme Court of his
request for recording his
statement via video link
from London or the
memo commission gave
an adverse finding of the
probe, Pakistan’s former
ambassador to the US will immediately express no-confidence
against the memo commission and apex court of the country
and seek political asylum in the US, sources close to Haqqani
told Pakistan Today. The sources, when asked about Haqqani’s
return from the US for appearing before the memo
commission, said: “why would he jump into hell. He will not
come to Pakistan and seek political asylum in the USA in case
the commission issued his arrest warrants or gave an adverse
finding,” adding that “it is as simple as that”. The sources said
Haqqani would first try to record his statement from London
and if allowed by the SC, he would feel no immediate problem.
However, in case the memo commission issued arrest warrants
to bring Haqqani back to Pakistan to attend the proceedings
following the rejection of his request from the SC, Haqqani
would prefer to stay in the US and apply for asylum.
CoNTINuEd oN PAgE 04

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:35 AM Page 2

02 News
today’s

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

LAHore

newS

World, Wealth, Religion or zardari. Choose!

Amir Muqam joins PML-N

Story on Page 07

Story on Page 05

cArToon

Quick
look

Page 13

Pakistan could be South Asia’s
trade hub, says The Hindu
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan lies at the heart of a rapidly-transforming world
around its land borders and reopening the historical East-west-North
trade routes and linking them with a strong North-South corridor will
make it the trade hub of South Asia. “And trade hubs, that lower cost of
transporting materials and people, are precursors of industrial hubs that
produce sustained economic growth,” said a report carried by The Hindu,
an Indian newspaper and contributed by Ijaz Nabi, a visiting faculty of the
Lahore University of Management Sciences under the headline “Lifting up
the Indo-Pak trade game” on wednesday. According to The Hindu, to the
North and East are the skills and savings-rich economies of China and
India with a combined population of over 2 billion growing at 8 percent or
more. “To the west are resource rich Central Asia, Iran and the Persian
Gulf states. Reopening the historical East-west-North trade routes and
linking them with a strong North-South corridor will make Pakistan the
trade hub of South Asia. And trade hubs, that lower cost of transporting
materials and people, are precursors of industrial hubs that produce
sustained economic growth,” it reported. The Hindu reported that this
was the strategic vision that should guide Pakistan’s trade relations with
all its neighbours, including India, and not the short-term cost-benefit
analysis of the impact of liberalisation on some niche manufacturers.
“And how should India lift up its game? All paths to economic
development and prosperity do not have to be routed through sweat shops
catering to affluent western consumers. A large and vibrant Asian regional
market would constitute a significant and, given demographic shifts,
growing part of global demand for products. India’s long-term strategic
interest is to help create that Asian market. That, in turn, requires
strengthening Pakistan to be an effective regional hub that connects the
Asia-wide market”, it said. APP

India test fires cruise missile
NEW DELHI: India on wednesday successfully test fired
Brahmos supersonic cruise missile as part of a user trial by the
army from the test range at Chandipur off odisha, eastern state
coast. “The missile was test fired from a ground mobile launcher
from the launch complex-3 at about 1122 hours and the trial was
successful,” said Indian defence official. The missile, which has a
flight range of up to 290 km, is capable of carrying a
conventional warhead of 200 to 300 kg. The cruise missile, a
surface-to-surface army version, was test fired as part of user
trial by the army, he said. The two-stage missile, the first one
being solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant, has
already been inducted into the Army and Navy, he said. while
induction of the first version of Brahmos missile system in the
Indian Navy commenced from 2005 with INS Rajput, it is now
fully operational with two regiments of the army. The air launch
version and the submarine launch version of the missile system
are in progress, said the official. ONLINE

Tulbul project: Pakistan seeks
technical details from India
NEW DELHI: Pakistan has sought technical details from India
on the Tulbul navigation project during the secretary-level talks
here aimed at resolving differences over the project in India-held
Kashmir. During the talks, Pakistan sought some technical
details of the project on Jhelum River. India envisages controlled
release of water from the wullar Lake during the lean-season
months of october to February to facilitate year-round
navigation for trade, employment and tourism. New Delhi
maintains that the regulating structure is permitted under the
Indus waters Treaty of 1960 for the non-consumptive use of
navigation. India has maintained that no pondage of water was
being created over Jhelum. Pakistan, however, contests the claim
terming it as a storage project and charges India with violation of
the provisions under the Treaty saying New Delhi was stopping
water, thus denying Islamabad its share. NNI

KARAChI: Police use water canon to disperse protesting nurses during a demonstration organised by Pakistan Nursing Federation on Wednesday. oNliNe

ExpEnditUrE dUring ElEction campaign

Govt seeks more time to
submit report to SC
ISLAMABAD

T

STAFF REPORT

H E federal government on
wednesday sought more time to
submit its reply to the Supreme
Court in a case where the petitioner
had sought reduction of expenditure during election campaign.
However, all political parties listed with the
Election Commission have submitted their
replies to the court.
A three-member SC bench headed by Chief
Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice
Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez
heard the petition filed Abid Hasan Manto, seeking reduction of expenses in election.
Manto told the court that all the political
parties had submitted their replies to the court
but the federation of Pakistan had not submitted its reply in the case. Upon this, Attorney
General Maulvi Anwarul Haq informed the
court that the election commission has submitted its reply to the court. The chief justice said
it was more important that the government
filed its reply. “The commission has no powers
to enforce the implementation of its orders; it

can only give the order; implementation is the
job of the government,” he asserted.
The chief justice said the court had issued a
notice to the federation through the Law Division. “It is not necessary for the Law Division to
present the federation in every case, you can
present the federation in this case,” he told the
attorney general. “we cannot consider the reply
of election commission on behalf of the federation; the federal government should have filed its
own reply,” said the chief justice.
The attorney general told the court that he
would consult with the Law Division on the issue
and then would be able to file the reply. Haq said
he would file the application with the court to
plead the case of federation. “I will plead the case
of the federation therefore I need more time to
file the reply,” the attorney general requested.
“The federal government should clear its position through its reply,” said the chief justice,
adding that tomorrow the government would
raise the objection if the court would not hear it.
Manto told the court that some political parties wanted to submit their suggestions on the
matter. “Political parties have no objection on the
reduction of election expenditure,” he added.
Manto presented a list of political parties

with the court and said his petition was in national interest. “The Election Commission has
no objection on my petition,” he told the court.
He said according to the commission, 26 political parties were currently functioning in the
country. “I have filed the petition with positive
approach,” he said.
Upon this, the chief justice said it was important to revise the code of conduct for contesting the election. “The court will appreciate all
political parties if they are agreed to revisit the
code of conduct for the election,” he added.
Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said law was already there for the reduction of election expenditure but the enforcement of the law was the
responsibility of the commission.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed of the
PML-Q appeared before the court and said it
was very important for strengthening of
democracy in the country to reduce the election
expenditure. Hussain pleaded that it should direct the election commission to stop the
process of senate election via secret ballot. The
chief justice also praised the role of PML-Q
chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain who was also
present in the courtroom, in politics. The court
adjourned further hearing until April 9.

News 03
coMMenT
A tough decision:
On the opening of the supply routes.

Mayhem in Karachi:
One incident is more than enough.

Nazir Naji says:
Why attack Pakistan?: When the US has so many other options.

Imran husain says:
Stars no more: The Talent-starved Team Pakistan.

harris Bin Munawar says:
The past that wasn’t: Before Pakistan makes the cultural choice of going back
to the glory of its mythical past, it must remember that that past never existed.

Story on Page 18

Story on Page 14

Story on Page 18

Articles on Page 12-13

An uphill task for new PIA MD
LAhore

T

IMRAN AdNAN

HE newly appointed Pakistan International Airline (PIA) Managing Director Rao
Qamar Suleman will have to face a tough
time at the cash-strapped national flag carrier.
He will have to do a lot of restructuring to streamline operations as almost ten grounded aircraft are still
queued for maintenance, Pakistan Today learnt on
wednesday. PIA sources said the PIA MD would have
to reassess the capability and capacity of the airline’s
higher management, as merit had been violated in
most appointments by the previous management for
obvious reasons. Sources said as many as ten aircrafts,
including one Boeing 747, one B-777ER, five Airbus A310s, two B-737s and one ATR 42-500 were grounded
for scheduled maintenance, while A310 AP-BEC had
been grounded since october 24, 2011.
They said 14 engines needed overhauling, but PIA
did not have any plan how it would make its fleet fully
operational. The previous management signed an
agreement of $700 million credit facility with Dubaibased company Transworld, but the airline could not
make this deal operational, even top man has been
changed, they underlined.
Sources said an Airbus A310 (AP-BGN) was
grounded since November last year as its parts and en-

gine had been installed in other aircraft to get them
ready for flights. Airbus A310 (AP-BGN) was waiting
for both Check-A and some spares as well as shake
down inspection.
The engine of a Boeing 737 (AP-BFT) had completed its life, while to keep it in operation it was replaced with other grounded aircraft as PIA had no new
engine for this aircraft, they added.
The sources said the national flag carrier’s management had been planning to purchase new aircraft despite its surging loss of over Rs 100 billion.
“Any sane management should first use its resources efficiently and then opt for new purchasing, but
despite the huge losses illogical decisions are being
made at the highest level,” a former PIA official said.
He pointed out that engineering department that
was being criticised for all such inefficiencies was the
same that helped Emirates, Qatar and some other
foreign airlines to develop their state-of-the-art engineering facilities. Highlighting the mismanagement
in national flag carrier, another unnamed official disclosed that a damaged engine uplifting contract was
awarded to a transportation company at the cost of
approximately $33,000, which was scheduled to start
arriving in Karachi this week. However, for reasons
best known to the PIA management, this low cost alternative was replaced with a chartered flight from
Amman to Karachi, which would cost $140,000, as
quoted by Rayyan Air.

15 new polio cases surface in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
PESHAWAR: Around 15 new polio cases have been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Tribal Areas in the
first three months of the year. According to sources, there was possibility of polio spread among children due to
presence of children in IDPs camps. They said that as a precautionary measure, movement of children outside the
camps was restricted. According to medical experts, children up to 15 years could become victim of polio. The
number of children up to age of five was 100,000 while 25,000 aged between 5 to 15 and living in the camps.
world Health organisation (wHo) and other international organisations had expressed concern over rising
number of polio cases in Pakistan in general and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA in particular. INP

woman SP dies in
car accident
LAhore
STAFF REPORT

A woman SP Investigation of Vehari died and her driver
was critically injured when her official car overturned at
Manga Mandi bypass in the Manga Mandi Police
precincts on wednesday. The victim was identified as
Muqaddas Asmi, a resident of 291-Garden Town. SP
Saddar Division Khurram Shoaib Jaanbaaz said that
Muqaddas was heading towards Vehari on her official
vehicle which was driven by her driver Pervaiz. As they
reached near Manga Mandi bypass, the vehicle
overturned due to negligence of the driver and speeding.
Local residents informed police after which heavy police
contingents, including senior policeman, reached the
spot and rushed Muqaddas and her driver to a nearby
hospital where doctor pronounced Muqaddas as dead
while her driver was in a critical condition.
COPS HELD: The Ichchra Police arrested two
constables along with a stolen motorcycle, lifted by
unidentified robbers from Millat Park Police precincts a
couple of days ago. on wednesday, owner of the
motorbike, saw two cops riding on his bike near Ichchra
Area over which he informed police, which arrested the
two cops who were later identified as waqas and Khalid,
posted in the Ichchra Police Station. Locals nabbed the
two constables and handed them over to police along
with the motorcycle. Top cops of Ichra Police only
ordered an inquiry into the matter.
COP INJURED: A constable of Special Branch was
injured by unidentified men near the railway station.
The cop was identified as Constable Muhammad Irshad,
a resident of Gulberg. According to details, Irshad was
passing from railway station area when some
unidentified men attacked him and badly injured him a
sharp-edged weapon and fled.

Altaf blasts Sindhi
nationalists

LoNDoN/KArAChI
NNI

MQM chief Altaf Hussain said on
wednesday that so-called Sindhi
nationalists are busy in spreading hatred
against Urdu speakers under a well-planned
strategy. In a statement, the MQM chief
demanded of authorities to stop nationalists
from issuing provoking statements against
Urdu speakers. He also appealed to Urdu
speakers to show restraint. Altaf said that
the MQM always pursued the policy of
reconciliation. The MQM chief warned that
those who were spreading hatred against
Urdu speakers should be aware that they
were living in the 21st Century.

FTER a two-day
delay due to severe resistance
by opposition
benches,
the
joint session of parliament
on wednesday finally initiated debate on recommendations of the national
security committee vis-à-vis
Pakistan’s terms of engagement with the US in the war
on terror, but the recent
wave of violence in Karachi
eclipsed the debate.
Initiating the debate,
Senator osman Saifullah of
the PPP said “we should refuse transit of any weapon
from the country” and underlined the need for a relation with the US based on
mutual respect.
He also stressed on a re-

view of the government’s
foreign policy, urging lessons should be learnt from
experiments/practices of
friends like Turkey and
China. on the occasion, he
also questioned the notion
that if Turkey could work for
American interests, why it
couldn’t do the same for
Pakistan.
Maulvi Asmatullah from
a dissident faction of JUI-F
said: “we should make it
clear that we cannot sacrifice
any more for the US. we
cannot approve new terms of
engagement with the US,” he
added.
Senator Syed Muzafar
Hussain Shah from the
PML-F said discussion over
the foreign policy in parliament was historic occasion.
“Relations with the US
should be based on mutual
respect,” he added.

Son of former Bangladesh PM
on trial over death plot
DHAKA: The son of a former Bangladesh prime minister
went on trial in absentia on wednesday over charges he
was involved in a 2004 attack that killed at least 20 people
and injured the current prime minister. Tareque Rahman,
46, the influential eldest son of Khaleda Zia, refused a court
summons to return to Bangladesh from his home in
London to attend the trial in Dhaka. Rahman is accused of
criminal conspiracy in a plot to kill his mother’s rival,
Sheikh Hasina, and her party officials, state prosecutors
said, adding that judges had adjourned the case until April
9. Hasina was addressing a rally in Dhaka on August 21,
2004, when several grenades exploded, leaving at least 20
Awami League officials and supporters dead. AFP

haqqani
CoNTINuEd fRoM PAgE 1
The SC had allowed Haqqani
to leave the country after he
submitted an affidavit with the
apex court that he would be
available before the commission on a four-day notice. on
the previous hearing, the commission rejected his application for recording his
statement from London and
directed him to appear before
it on March 26 in Islamabad,
but he did not come to Pakistan citing security concerns.
Asked if Haqqani is anticipating an adverse decision from
the memo commission, a close
aide of Haqqani briefly replied,
“The mood and attitude of the
commission is very clear.”
Haqqani has so far not surrendered his two Blackberry
phone sets to the commission,
saying they went missing when
he left washington in a hurry,

nor did he disclose the PIN of
the sets.
He has admitted some
“undeniable” facts before the
commission as his phone calls
to and from Mansoor Ijaz – authenticated by the call log provided by Mansoor Ijaz – but
denied the contents of the conversation that allegedly took
place between the two characters of the memo controversy.
Haqqani has now declined
to come to Pakistan, saying he
felt threatened in Pakistan at
the hands of security agencies
connected with Ijaz. A 19member bench of the Supreme
Court will hear the petition
filed by Husain Haqqani today
(Thursday) seeking to record
his statement via video link
from London. The memo commission would take a course of
action in the light of the decision of the apex court.

Independent candidate
Zafar Baig declared the
PCNS agenda a continuity of
Musharraf regime, which
were being legalised. He said
all damage sustained by Pakistan was due to imprudent
policies of the federation itself, and stressed on dealing
with America on an equality
basis.
FATA MNA Zafar Baig
Battani said, “our foreign
policy should be on principle
of equality.” He said the US
was not our enemy but we
only want reformulating a
foreign policy based on mutual respect and dignity.
He said the country has
already suffered due to the
wrong policies of a dictator,
adding that in the last ten
years, the so-called war on
terror had claimed 40,000
lives and economic losses of
more than $70 billion.

nawaz slams
Musharraf for
giving country
only crises
LAhore
INP

Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz
Sharif on wednesday held
former dictator General (r)
Pervez Musharraf responsible
for crises confronting the
country’s economy and
instability and disturbed law
and order situation.
Addressing Istehkam-ePakistan Conference (Stability
of Pakistan Conference) at
Jamia Naeemia on
wednesday, Nawaz said he
had always preferred national
interests and country’s
sovereignty over everything
while settling issues with
foreign countries and never
bowed before the international
powers dictation and
demands. He said that Pervez
Musharraf surrendered to
global pressure and gave in at
the very first call from the US.
Nawaz extended hand of
cooperation to all the political
parties for preserving
sovereignty and integrity of the
country, independence of
judiciary, strengthening of
democratic institutions and
opposing martial laws in the
future. He invited them to
unite at a joint platform to
advance what he described as
Pakistan agenda.

Awami National Party office-bearer Zainul Abideen
was attacked and killed by
unidentified gunmen who
opened fire on his vehicle
near the Matric Board office
in North Nazimabad on
wednesday.
According
to
a
spokesman for ANP Sindh, a
companion
of
Zainul
Abideen was also injured in
the incident.
ANP Sindh President
Shahi Syed condemned the
killing and demanded the
killers be arrested immediately.
Provincial Home Minis-

ter Mansoor wasan has
summoned a report from the
IG police.
Following the killing, violence erupted in several
areas of the city, including

Empress Market, Bohri
Bazar and NIPA Chowrangi.
A man was also killed in Lasbella when unidentified
armed men opened fire on
him.

Interior Minister Rehman
Malik faced huge embarrassment in the House on
wednesday when parliamentarians from the PPP’s
coalition partner – the
Awami National Party - challenged his capability, saying
he had done nothing to
maintain law and order in
the country and had rather
“played smart” to prove his
efficiency.
Malik was also repri-

manded by National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza
when he tried to put the
blame of the ongoing law
and order in Karachi on
delay in the passage of new
Anti Terrorism Act. Speaking on a point of order, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
(PML-N) Information Secretary Senator Mushahidullah
Khan said his party’s worker
was gunned down by the
people who were enforcing
others for a strike. “The
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers have

killed our workers,” Khan
said, asking the interior minister to make efforts for the
arrest of killers. Haider
Abbas Rizvi from the MQM
endorsed the views of the
PML-N and reminded the
minister that his party chief
Altaf Hussain had given him
a “blank cheque” to take an
across-the-board
action
against criminals.
ANP’s Haji Adeel apprised the House that his
party’s worker, Zainul
Abideen was also killed during wednesday’s strike.

no one will be allowed to humiliate civil servants: cJ
ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT

Hearing a case pertaining
to protection of civil servants, Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad
Chaudhry observed on
wednesday that no one
would be allowed to humiliate civil servants of the
nation.
A three-member bench
of Chief Justice Iftikhar
Muhammad
Chaudhry,

Justice Khilji Arif Hussain
and Justice Tariq Parvez
appreciated
Rizwan
Ahmad, the Sargodha district police officer, for his
bold step to register an FIR
against an ex-MPA belonging to Pakistan People’s
Party, Aslam Madiyana, for
brutally beating a school
teacher.
Rizwan was transferred
to Gilgit-Baltistan when he
registered the FIR against
the former MPA, who also

appeared before the bench.
The court inquired
from Attorney General
Maulvi Anwarul Haq why
Rizwan was transferred
when he performed his
duty in accordance with
the law.
The attorney general
told the court that the Establishment Division had
withdrawn its earlier notification of transferring
Rizwan on March 12 and
issued another one. The

court asked the attorney
general to provide a copy
of the Establishment Division’s new notification regarding Rizwan.
Anita Turab, a grade 19
officer of DMG, who wrote
a letter to the chief justice
for the protection of civil
servants’ rights, also came
to the court, saying the real
issue was not giving protection to Rizwan. “It was
just an example, but we
want overall protection for

civil servants,” she added.
The chief justice further
asked the AGP what measures had been taken for the
protection of civil servants?
The attorney general informed the court that a
committee headed by the
establishment secretary and
comprising all four chief
secretaries had been constituted to review the terms
and conditions for civil servants, particularly transferring and making them oSD.

The court gave two weeks to
the establishment secretary
for the preparation of a
comprehensive report regarding measures taken by
the government for protection of civil servants.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan informed the bench
that after disqualification
of waheeda Shah, the
schedule of by-election on
the particular seat had
been issued.

Meanwhile, two cars and
three motorcycles were set
on fire in the Teen Hatti
area. A passenger bus was
also burnt on Nishtar Road.
Shops, petrol and CNG stations were shut down as violence spread to various parts
of the city.
Earlier, Home Minister
Manzoor wassan said a judicial inquiry would be held
into the loss of life and burning of vehicles in incidents of
violence that triggered in the
metropolis following the
killing of two Muttahida
Qaumi Movement (MQM)
workers on Tuesday.
He also ordered an imposition of ban on carrying
arms across the province.

Afghan women
jailed for ‘moral
crimes’: Hrw
KABUL
AFP

Hundreds of Afghan women
are languishing in prison
for so-called moral crimes,
which include running away
from home and having sex
outside marriage, campaign
group Human Rights watch
said wednesday. The report
released in Kabul, “I Had to
Run Away”, called for them
to be freed and said
President Hamid Karzai’s
western-backed
government had failed to
fulfil its obligations under
international human rights
laws. “It is shocking that 10
years after the overthrow of
the Taliban, women and
girls are still imprisoned for
running away from
domestic violence or forced
marriage,” said Kenneth
Roth, executive director of
Human Rights watch. The
group estimated there are a
total of 400 women in
prison and girls in juvenile
detention facilities having
been accused or convicted
of offences including
“running away”, which is
not a crime under the
Afghan penal code.

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:35 AM Page 5

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

News 05

61% oppose,
33% favour pM’s
view on Zardari’s
immunity
ISLAMABAD
INP

According to a Gilani Research Foundation
Survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, 61%
oppose, while 33% favour PM Yousaf Raza
Gilani’s view that President Zardari enjoys
immunity against court proceedings. A
nationally representative sample of men
and women from across four provinces was
asked that prime minister was of the
opinion that president had immunity,
meaning that as long as he was president,
court cannot summon him. In their
opinion, does the President own such right
or not? Responding to this, 33% favoured
prime minister’s opinion that the president
enjoyed immunity against criminal
proceedings, while 61% opposed this.
However 6% did not give a view.

Cabinet body
reviews
energy crisis
ISLAMABAD
GNI

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on
Energy and Power on wednesday
discussed various aspects leading to energy
shortage in the country and supply of gas
to power generating companies, receivables
from provinces, timely payment to
GENCos and fuel price adjustments. The
meeting was chaired by Federal Finance
Minister Senator Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
It was convened on directions of the PM to
take immediate measures and devise a
strategy to overcome energy shortage in the
country. The meeting will also take place
today (Thursday) before giving a
presentation to the PM. The PM, taking
cognisance of power outages in residential
and commercial centers of cities and
towns, had directed the concerned
ministries to take immediate action and
give a detailed presentation to him so that
the problems may be settled.

5.6 magnitude
quake jolts
Balochistan
QUeTTA
ONLINE

A moderate earthquake hit parts of
Balochistan on wednesday with no damage
reported, the Met office said. It said that the
quake was recorded at 5.6 on the Richter
Scale, sending people in Kalat, Sorab,
Gadar, Lakoriyan and other areas of the
province running out of their homes under
fright and panic. Earthquake tremors were
felt at about 8:15am. The epicentre of the
earthquake was located at a focal depth of
nine kilometres in southwest Quetta.

ATTOCK: Eunuchs hold a demonstration against police officials outside the district Police Office on Wednesday. oNliNe

SC asks NAB to complete
ISAF containers’ probe
ISLAMABAD

D

STAFF REPORT

ISPoSING of a suo motu
case pertaining to the
International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF)
container scam, the
Supreme Court on wednesday directed
the National Accountability Bureau
(NAB) to conduct a broad inquiry into
the matter and submit fortnightly report with the court’s Registrar office.
A three-member bench of Chief
Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry,
Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice
Tariq Pervez also made the report of
Federal Tax ombudsman (FTo) on the
issue as part of the order, presumed to
be a guiding principle for NAB to probe
the matter. The report’s findings
claimed that size and scale of the scam
indicated its commission and perpetuation was not possible without protection of the senior management in the
field as well as the Federal Board of
Revenue (FBR) headquarters.
It is worth mentioning that in his
report, the FTo informed the court that
as many as 28,802 commercial Afghan
transit trade containers and 3,396 noncommercial containers were known to
have not crossed the Pak-Afghan bor-

der. At the onset of hearing, counsel for
the FBR Raja Muhammad Irshad submitted before the bench that incumbent
FBR Chairman Mumtaz Haider Rizvi
had some reservations on the report
and sought two weeks adjournment in
the case, saying that during the given
time Rizvi would have to go through the
entire exercise relating to the issue. Expressing his annoyance over the contention of Raja Irsahd, the chief justice
observed that, “were we engaged in a
futile exercise since two years as we had
also engaged the FTo who worked on a
report in pursuance of court orders”.
“Let the FBR chairman know that the
court will not undo the matter,” the CJ
said while addressing Irshad.
The CJ remarked now it would be
the responsibility of NAB to probe the
matter, adding that exporters, transporters and custom authorities were allegedly involved in the containers
movement which were containing
goods cleared without charging customs etc on the pretext that goods were
meant for ISAF, and NATo forces. “Instead of taking the goods to
Afghanistan, it were allegedly delivered
in Peshawar and Chaman”, the CJ said
in his order. During the hearing, NAB
Deputy Prosecutor General Fouzi Zafar
read out a report pertaining to the NAB

inquiries’ detail in the case saying that
in the first phase NAB was referred a
total of eight complaints from FBR
probe committee against eight clearing
agents and others, containing 10,012
containers and involving an amount of
Rs 19.098 billion in the shape of alleged evaded duties and taxes. He informed that as many as 13 complaints
against 26 clearing agents and others,
involving 11,979 containers with alleged revenue loss of Rs 22.772 billion
along with four other complaints
against 237 clearing agents involving
6,811 containers were also sent by the
FBR to NAB.
He stated that in addition to such
complaints relating to commercial
Afghan Transit cargo, a complaint regarding 3,542 non commercial cargos
was also received from FBR against
about 45 clearing agents. He apprised
the bench that NAB also called record
from Pakistan Railways and NLC to
confirm the transportation of the containers to the destinations. He said
after receiving complaints in second
phase, record of 24 clearing agents out
of 26 was examined, adding that in the
cases of non commercial cargo, notices
to 39 clearing agents were issued
against which 23 agents appeared before the NAB.

Amir Muqam joins pMl-N
LAhore
STAFF REPORT

In a major political blow to the
PML-Q, Amir Muqam has decided to
join the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) and a formal announcement would be made on April
6 in a press conference. The decision
was made in a meeting between
Muqam and PML-N chief Nawaz
Sharif at his residence in Raiwind,
Lahore, which was attended by
PML-N KPK President Pir Sabir
Shah, party senior members Sardar
Mehtab Khan Abbasi and PML-N
General Sectary Iqbal Zafar Jagra.

Several news channels reported last
night that PML Q president
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain dissolved
the party set up in KP, reportedly
following tensions between Muqam
and Shujaat after the party refused
to award a Senate ticket to Muqam.
After a series of consultation,
Muqam was on the verge of joining
the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, but
his meeting with PTI chief Imran
Khan bore no fruit. Also, party workers from Malakand and Swat were
not in favour of the merger. Muqam
called on the PML-N chief on
wednesday and expressed full confidence in his leadership.

Yemen urges
pakistan to
free osama bin
laden’s widow
SANAA
REUTERS

Yemen urged Pakistan on Tuesday to
free one of osama bin Laden’s injured
widows, saying Yemen-born Amal AlSadeh and her four children were not
guilty of any crime. Pakistan’s interior
minister said earlier this month that bin
Laden’s three widows, including Sadeh,
would be put on trial for entering and
living in the country illegally. “The
Pakistani authorities retracted from
their initial position to surrender Amal
to the Yemeni government,” Yemeni
Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi told
Reuters. “we continue to call on the
Pakistani authorities to transfer her to
her home country. we are also
concerned about the well being of her
young children. The children should not
be punished for the mistakes of their
father.” Al Qaeda leader bin Laden was
shot and killed in May last year by U.S.
Special Forces who stormed his house in
the Pakistani garrison town of
Abbottabad after a decade-long
manhunt. Sadeh, two other wives from
Saudi Arabia and an undisclosed number
of children were among the 16 people
detained by Pakistani authorities after
the raid. Relatives said Sadeh, who was
shot in the leg during the raid, entered
Pakistan legally. “She came to Pakistan
with her elder brother in 2000 using her
passport,” said Hameed Al-Sadeh, Amal’s
27-year-old cousin. “They flew from
Sanaa to Karachi. There was nothing
illegal about it. The Pakistani authorities
have even released a photocopy of her
passport,” he told Reuters. Hameed, who
is a journalist in Sanaa, said Amal was
being held with her four children in a
basement. “She limps from a bullet
wound in her knee and she’s suffering
from psychological trauma and very low
blood pressure,” he said. “She hasn’t seen
the sun for months, they are kept in the
basement below the earth, she and her
four children, the eldest is a 12 year old
girl, and three boys, the youngest is two.”
Yemeni Human Rights Minister Houriya
Mashhour said Amal had committed no
crime in Pakistan. “Just because she was
married to him (bin Laden) does not
make her guilty,” Mashhour told Reuters.

NDER a special directive from
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who was attending the Nuclear Security Summit, a meeting was
held at the Prime Minister’s House on
wednesday under the chairmanship of
Minister for Religious Affairs Khursheed Shah, , to resolve the issues pertaining to lady health workers, who held
protests for release of their salaries.
The committee deliberated in detail on
all issues relating to lady health workers
that included delayed payment of salaries,
non-provision of medicine and medical

kits and other logistic problems. The meeting was also attended by Special Assistant
to the Prime Minister Shahnaz wazir Ali,
Principal Secretary to Prime Minister
Khushnood Akhtar Lashari, secretaries of
the concerned federal ministries, chief secretaries of Punjab and Sindh and representatives of provincial governments.
The meeting acknowledged the importance of lady health workers in the
public health sector delivery system and
appreciated their role in polio eradication
in the country under the extended programme on immunisation. The committee directed the planning division
secretary to immediately release the
salaries for all such workers. A committee

was formed under the chairpersonship of
Shahnaz wazir Ali to address all outstanding issues pertaining to lady health
workers. The committee will include secretaries of Planning, Finance and Inter
Provincial Coordination Divisions and
secretaries of Health and Finance from
the provincial governments. It will finalise its recommendations within two
weeks and submit them to the prime minister for his consideration and approval.
Taking note of delay in release of
salaries to the lady health workers by
the provincial Finance Departments,
the committee directed that in future
there should be no delay in disbursement of the salaries. It may be men-

tioned that under the 18th Amendment,
the LHw programme is the responsibility of provincial governments as the
subject has been devolved to the
Provinces. However, the federal government will continue to assist the
provinces in the matter till the next
NFC Award. Shahnaz said this was the
largest programme in the Public Health
Sector and its immense contributions in
the social sector have been acknowledged by international organisations.
She emphasized that the programme
should not be shelved as it may have
immense negative social implications as
there is no alternate arrangement yet to
replace this programme.

indian troops
kill five youth
in Hindwara
SrINAGAr
NNI

Indian troops, in their fresh acts of state
terrorism, martyred five Kashmiri youth
in Handwara on wednesday during siege
and search operations. of those martyred
three were killed in Zachaldara area while
bodies of two were recovered from the
debris of a house destroyed by troops in
Laribal village. An official of the Indian
Defence Ministry claimed that the
martyred youth were members of a
militant organisation. The siege and
search operation continued until filing of
this report. Veteran Kashmiri Hurriyat
leader Syed Ali Geelani denounced the
arrest spree by Indian police in Srinagar,
Sopore and other areas of the occupied
territory. He deplored that police was
arresting innocent youth to pre-empt the
2010 like uprising in occupied Kashmir.

Kp governor hints
at introduction of
local bodies
system in fAtA
PeShAWAr
STAFF REPORT

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister
Masood Kausar on wednesday hinted at
the introduction of local bodies system in
FATA. “we are seriously considering
turning municipal committees in the
Tribal Areas into elected bodies,
responsible for provision of civic
amenities to the local population,” he
said, addressing the launching ceremony
of report, Mainstreaming FATA,
compiled by Shaheed Bhutto Foundation
and based on the considerate opinion of
the people from different walks of tribal
society. He said these local bodies would
be comprising representatives of the
respective communities, elected through
balloting and under a well-established
democratic process for which necessary
infrastructure was being laid down.
Shaheed Bhutto Foundation Chairman
Senator Farhatullah Babar, Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan General
Secretary IA Rahman, and MNA Munir
orakzai also spoke on the occasion. The
governor lauded the efforts of Shaheed
Bhutto Foundation particularly the
valuable services, which the foundation
had rendered to ascertain the viewpoint
of the people of FATA on FATA Reforms
thus facilitating the government in giving
a final shape to the Reform Package
approved and announced by President
Asif Ali Zardari
on August 12, 2011.

SWAT: Families of Pakistani sailors kidnapped by Somali pirates hold a demonstration for their recovery at Nishat Chowk on Wednesday. oNliNe

Pakistan wants to increase economic and
trade links with the city of Tianjin in
addition to promoting people-to-people
contact, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani
said on wednesday. on his way back from
Seoul where he attended the Nuclear
Security Summit, Gilani briefly stopped over
in Tianjin, the Chinese port city, on
wednesday afternoon. He was received by
Mayor of Tianjin Huang Xing Guo and
Ambassador Masood Khan at the airport.
During the prime minister’s technical
stopover, Huang along with senior officials
of Tianjin city government called on him.
Talking to them Gilani said Pakistan and
China had a unique relationship spread over
six decades, adding that friendship between
Pakistan and China was not only higher
than mountains and deeper than oceans but
also sweeter than honey and stronger than
steel. He said he started his political career
at the grassroots level of district government
and fully understood the role they could
play in national development. The mayor of
Tianjin informed the prime minister that
Tianjin was one of the four most resourceful
municipalities in China and briefed him
about the economic infrastructure and
educational facilities in the city. Gilani was
informed that sea port of Tianjin was the
fourth largest in the world which is also
used by the Pakistan, Central Asian states,
Russia and Mongolia for their trade. Huang
said Pakistan and China were good friends,
good neighbours and good partners. He
invited the prime minister to visit Tianjin
during his next visit. Minister for Foreign
Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, MNA Syed
Samsam Ali Bukhari, Pakistan’s
Ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman and
Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Masood
Khan also attended the meeting. Earlier,
addressing a delegation of Pakistan
Business Association South Korea, led by
Hafiz Abdul waheed, Gilani said he had to
face the imprisonment and came out with
the pledge of rejecting politics of vendetta
and victimization for all times. The prime
minister said he would see parliament
complete its tenure, whether the political
opponents extend the felicitation or not. on
this, the Business Community
acknowledged the prime minister with a big
round of applause and chanted prodemocracy slogans. The prime minister said
during his meeting on Tuesday he told the
US president that Pakistan democracy
would complete its tenure, thus
strengthening the democratic process in the
country. He directed the ambassador to
start issuing machine readable passports to
the Pakistanis living in this country and this
directive must be implemented well before
the forthcoming visit of the President of
Pakistan. Separately, a leading South
Korean Company K-water will invest in
different hydal projects in Pakistan to
general around 3000 Mw electricity to help
in resolving energy crisis.

Afghans, Americans tired of war: panetta
WAShINGToN
NNI

After more than a decade of the antiterrorism campaign, the Afghans and
Americans were tired of war, US
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said.
“we’ve been through 10 years of
war in the United States, and there’s
no question that the American people
are tired of war, just as the Afghan
people are tired of war,” Panetta told
reporters. At a joint media availability
with his Canadian counterpart, the
secretary said: “I think the American
people understand why we’re engaged
in Afghanistan. 9/11 represented an
attack on our country. over 3,000
people lost their lives as a result
of the attack”
He said in many ways, the al
Qaeda threat had gone out to the rest
of the world, Panetta said in ottawa,

Canada. “As a result, the world has
come together to confront that threat.
That’s what got us involved
inAfghanistan is the effort to ensure
that that country would never again
become a safe haven for al Qaeda or
for their allies to be able to plan
attacks on this country or any country
for that matter,” he said. Panetta said
Gen John Allen, the commander of US
and NATo forces in Afghanistan, was
convinced that 2011 represented an
important turning point in that war.
“we have seen the level of violence
going down…” The US goal was to
complete the process of transition by
mid-2013, Panetta said, believing the
Afghan army had improved
dramatically in terms of its
operational skills.
“They are involved directly in
operations. They’re involved in
providing security. And ultimately,

that’s going to be a very important
answer to completing this mission.”
Canadian Defence Minister Peter
Mackay said the ability of Afghan
forces to plan and execute their own
patrols and protection was enormous
compared to where they were a decade
ago, even a few short years ago.
“This is our generation’s war. This
is a test of our perseverance, our
ability to carry through for the longterm security of not just Afghanistan,
but the region and ultimately the
entire world,” he remarked. “So there’s
a lot at stake, and Canada will be there
with our NATo partners. we’re getting
ready, of course, for the Chicago
NATo summit; the first time we’ve
held one in North America for some
time. It is going to be a very important
pivotal point as we plan for post-2013
and how we support Afghanistan,”
Mackay concluded.

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:35 AM Page 7

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

Stop spewing anti-Mohajir
venom, Altaf tells nationalists
07

Another dAy, sAme old story
■ AnP activist gunned down, colleague injured
■ for the second day running, violence erupts in city after murder of political worker
KArAChI
AAMIR MAJEEd

A

FTER a brief
respite, violence
gripped the city
again after the
mysterious killing
of an Awami National Party
(ANP) activist on wednesday
evening, sparking off riots
and arson incidents that left
two more people dead and
seven vehicles gutted.
on Tuesday also, the law
and order situation in the
city had crumbled after an
activist of the Muttahida
Qaumi Movement (MQM)
was shot dead inside his
house located in the PIB
Colony.
A statement issued from
the ANP secretariat, unidentified assailants gunned
down Zainullah, 34, son of
Noorullah, and injured Sajid
Hassan Zai near the Matric
Board office in North Nazimabad.
Zainullah was the Joint
Secretary of ANP Patel Para
ward while Zai was the
ward’s president.
The ANP claimed that
Zainullah was returning to
his house in Patel Para with
the ward president when
some unidentified armed
men intercepted their car
near Board office and
sprayed it with bullets.
Two more people were
shot dead in the aftermath of
the murder of the ANP
worker.
A 30-year-old man, identified as Muhammad Tahir,
was killed by unidentified attackers near the Golimar
Chowrangi, Rizvia police

said.
Separately, 20-year-old
Abdul Samad man was shot
dead outside his house in the
PIB Colony. PIB Colony police said the victim belonged
to the Urdu-speaking community.
Meanwhile, the murder
of the ANP activist was
shrouded in mystery as the
police could not corroborate
the incident through any wit-

ness until the filing of this report.
Gulberg Division SP Tanvir Alam odho told Pakistan
Today that he went at the
spot to confirm the killing,
but they do not get a single
witness to prove the incident.
“The injured man is continuously changing his statement, resulting in confusion
and hurdles in the legal formalities,” he added.

“Zai told the ANP Sindh
leadership that the incident
took place at Board office
bus stop but when the police
took his statement in the Liaquat National Hospital, he
changed the location to
Sindhi Hotel in New Karachi
Industrial Area police jurisdiction,” he said. “I have
checked all the police stations falling under my control but could not get any

witness.”
As news of the killing of
ANP office bearer spread,
routine life in the metropolis
came to a standstill, causing
massive traffic jams in almost all parts of the city.
Shops and markets were suddenly shut down in anticipation of riots. Unidentified
armed men took to the
streets and resorted to aerial
firing. Public and private

transport vanished from the
roads and petrol pumps and
CNG stations were also
closed down.
The ANP announced a
day of mourning on Thursday (today) following the
killing of its worker.
At a meeting in the
Bacha Khan Markaz on
wednesday, the ANP welcomed MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s call for a judicial

inquiry into the killing. The
leadership decided that black
flags would be hoisted at all
unit offices, ward offices and
all provincial and district offices including the Bacha
Khan Markaz on Thursday.
The ANP would also
hold a Quran Khawani for
the deceased at 3:00 pm.
Condemning the incident, ANP Sindh President
Shahi Syed said that ANP
workers were being killed
under a conspiracy.
He also requested the
workers to show patience
and help the provincial government in maintaining
peace in the city.
Expressing
concerns
over the killing of ANP
workers in Karachi, ANP
President Asfandyar wali
demanded an inquiry into
the incident and immediate
arrest of the killers. “The
ANP would not leave its
workers alone in these
tough times,” he said
Following the strike call
from the ANP, the Karachi
Transport Ittehad (KTI) announced keeping public
transport off the roads
today.
Sindh Home Minister
ordered the provincial police chief to investigate the
killing of ANP activist and
submit a report.
Karachi Additional Inspector General of Police
(AIGP) Akhtar Ghorchani
issued directives to the
SHos of all police stations
in the city to take stern action against the people involved in killing of political
workers.

CANNONEd!

‘please, no lame excuses
Paramedics’ protest for slow tax recovery’

watered down

■ PAc dismayed over recovery of only rs 8.2m against rs 316.2m by Bor officials
KArAChI

KArAChI

AFTAB ChANNA

STAFF REPORT

Expressing displeasure over
the Board of Revenue (BoR)’s
slow recovery of outstanding
dues amounting to only Rs
8.204 million out of Rs
316.227 million, the Sindh Assembly’s Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) refused to
accept the BoR officials’ excuse of rains and floods for
their shortcomings.
The committee met under
the chair of PAC Chairman Sardar Jam Tamachi Unnar at the
Sindh Assembly's Committee
Room-1 on wednesday.
Among others, the meeting
was attended by PAC members
Ghulam Mujadid Isran, Shama
Arif Mithani, Amir Moin
Pirzada, Shoaib Ibrahim and
Bachal Shah Jilani.
Speaking to the media after
the meeting, Unnar said that
not a single paragraph was settled with the revenue officials,
who were making lame excuses

The protest march of nurses and junior paramedical staff towards the
Governor’s House demanding time-scale promotions and regularisation
of services was bombarded with teargas shells and water cannons by the
police on wednesday. Around 5,000 nurses have been campaigning for a
Rs 10,000 allowance for food and clothes, time-scale promotions, increased stipend for nursing school students, as well as professional
health allowance and high risk and hard workers allowances. The paramedics had planned to stage a sit-in outside the Chief Minister’s House
after staging a demonstration outside the Governor House, but the protesters were intercepted by the law enforcers near the Fawara Chowk.
Many nurses were injured when the police tear-gassed and water-cannoned them. They were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. over a dozen nurses and paramedic staff were arrested by the police
but later released on the Sindh Health Minister’s request. The nurses
were protesting that their demands were always rejected and the refusals
have forced them to launch a protest. The junior paramedics from grades
BPS-1 to BPS-4 include laboratory technicians, lady health workers, naib
qasids, sanitary inspectors, gardeners, store keepers, dispensers, security guards, ward masters and nursing attendants. Later, the nurses boycotted their duties at the government-run hospitals in Karachi and
across Sindh in order to protest against the police’s highhandedness.
Earlier, the nurses had only stopped working in the outdoor-patient departments but now have boycotted work in the accident and emergency
departments and intensive care units.

of floods and rains for the slow
recovery of dues. “All the 27
paras were deferred for the
next meeting whereas the
scheduled Home Department
meeting could also be not
arranged as the officials concerned sought a 15-day period
to settle the issues,” he added.
Unnar claimed that the
government’s system had been
badly disturbed by the devolution of ministries but now
things are being managed
properly. “No recovery was
made during the tenure of the
district governments and the
revenue officials are also showing reluctance to ensure early
recovery of Rs 316.227 million
under the head of various taxes
being
collected
by
Mukhtiarkars and Tapedars.”
At the meeting, the PAC reviewed 27 paras of the audit reports of financial years of
2005-06, 2006-07 and 200708 but not a single para was
settled as the revenue officials
had “no answers”.

As per the report handed
over to the newsmen, the revenue department misappropriated Rs 316.227 million under
the head of different taxes and
only small sum of Rs 8.204
million was recovered.
It was observed during the
meeting that Mukhtiarkars and
Tapedars were not performing
their duties properly and taxes
were not being submitted to
the provincial exchequer.
The revenue officials were
instructed to deduct non-deposited tax amount from the
salaries of the officials concerned. “As a warning, the
practice be continued so that
no Mukhtiarkar or Tapedar
ever tries to play with public
money,” it was decided.
BoR
Senior
Member
Shahzar Samoon issued directives to the deputy commissioners
to
follow
the
instruction and submit the report to him as early as possible.
In the report, it was stated
that revenue officials in 17 dis-

tricts,
including
Ghotki,
Jamshoro, Khairpur, Tando
Mohammad Khan, Sanghar,
Shikarpur, Nosheroferoz, Jacobabad, Sukkur, Dadu, Benazirabad,
Jacobabad,
Kashmore, Umerkot and
Tharparkar, had not shown
the recovery of Land Tax of
over Rs 50 million in fiscal
year 2006-07.
In the same year, officers in
11 districts, including Khairpur, Sanghar, Shikarpur,
Nosheroferoz,
Jacobabad,
Sukkur, Dadu, Benazirabad,
Jacobabad,
Kashmore,
Umerkot and Hyderabad, had
not shown the recovery of Abiana (water tax) of Rs 31.327
million.
In 2007-08, revenue officials in 10 districts, including
Badin, Khairpur, Nosheroferoz, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad,
Benazirabad, Shikarpur, Tando
Allah Yar, Sanghar and
Larkana, had not shown the recovery of Abiana tax of Rs
36.832 million.

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:35 AM Page 8

PakistaN today

08 karachi

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

Stop spewing anti-Mohajir venom,
Altaf tells nationalists
■ calls on government to restrain elements using inflammatory language against his people
KArAChI

T

STAFF REPORT

HE so-called nationalist elements and certain political
leaders of Sindh are using
provocative language against
the Urdu-speaking people
under a planned conspiracy to ignite the
fire of hate and prejudice among the
people, said Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on
wednesday.
In a video message released by the
MQM, Hussain warned that if the elements using fiery language against Mohajirs were not stopped, things might
slip from his hands and people might
take matters in their own hands.

He appealed to the President, Prime
Minister, Chief of the Army Staff, InterServices Intelligence Director General,
Federal Interior Minister, Sindh Governor, Chief Minister and Home Minister
to restrain the elements using inflammatory language against a segment of
population.
The MQM chief said that the MQM
had always tried to douse the fire of hate
and prejudice being set ablaze in Sindh
by conciliatory gestures.
“The MQM has publicly asserted in
large gatherings that it is against the division of Sindh but the so-called nationalist elements and some political leaders
are repeatedly saying that Sindh would
be drenched in blood if anyone speaks
about division of Sindh,” he said. “It is

also being threatened that certain areas
would be plunged into carnage and
bloodshed.”
warning the elements using abusive
language and threats of terrorism and
bloodshed, Hussain said that the Urduspeaking people cannot be subjugated
by such tactics. “They should know that
it is the 21st century – their power
would be put to the test when the time
comes.”
He said that he would not tire from
preaching peace and unity but if the
Urdu-speaking people become tired of
hearing the appeals of peace and solidarity, his preaching would become useless.
Hussain appealed to his people to
bear with patience and fortitude and
hold back their emotions.

Under an online system, salary payment at the Karachi
Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) is being directly connected to the bank’s main computer and the deduction of
income tax from the salaries has been connected with the
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)’s online system. Speaking
at a meeting with departmental heads at the head office,
KMC Municipal Commissioner Matanat Ali Khan said that
fake and bogus payment of employee’s salaries has been
done away with, providing direct access to the employees to
get any information about the deduction of taxes from their
salary. Directing the officers to ensure full and proper monitoring of all official matters and bring around an improvement in the performance of their respective departments,
the commissioner expressed satisfaction over the recovery
of dues from the auctioned plots of KDA. He added that 40
percent exemption is being allowed on the full and final
payment of dues on the plots where owners had still not
begun construction. Khan said that the routes of CNG buses
have been restored and buses are plying on the three designated routes; whereas, maintenance of some more buses is
underway and the vehicles will be brought on the roads
soon.

‘enormous potential in
Pak-Dutch trade’
KArAChI
APP

with the city going through a turmoil, the calm waters off the china creek provide the fishermen much more than just a catch. oNliNe

from April 1 to 5, ‘every
Life counts’ at JPMc
KArAChI
STAFF REPORT

The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre
(JPMC) will hold its 49th Annual Medical Symposium from April 1 to 5 on the
theme “Every Life Counts”, which implies that no person can ever experience
all that life has to offer. JPMC Academic
Council and Symposium organising
Committee chairperson Prof Jamal Ara
announced this in a statement issued on
wednesday. Elaborating on the choice
for the theme, she said it was only
through sharing experiences, feelings
and insights that one can hope to grow
beyond a finite lifetime. “The idea is to
invigorate all stakeholders and make
them think if they are ready to grow
today,” she added. Ara stated that the
JPMC is the pioneer medical institute of
the country that has been organising annual medical symposiums since 1963. “It
is our endeavour to continue the academic and research activity and keep the
torch alight and kick off the forthcoming
moot by holding a plenary session after
the inauguration,” she added.

‘two more highways
to ease traffic flow’
KArAChI
STAFF REPORT

The construction of Mehran
Highway and Hub River Road
would provide alternate routes
to the traffic coming from other
cities and improve the overall
traffic flow in the city, said
Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Administrator
Muhammad Hussain Syed.
He said this while speaking
at a review meeting on the construction
of
Shahrah-eQuaideen on wednesday.
Syed said that special attention was being given to the construction of roads in Karachi
and the improvement of flyovers and underpasses. “As an
alternate to National Highway,

two important projects –
Mehran Highway and Hub
River Road – will provide alternate routes to enter the city.”
The administrator said that
reconstruction of Shahrah-eQuaideen and the storm water
drain along the road will be
completed on-time. “Traffic
flow on Shahrah-e-Quaideen
will be improved by making it
signal-free and pedestrian
bridges will be installed on the
corridor to facilitate the people,” he added.
In the first phase of work
on the portion of Shahrah-eQuaideen from the Noorani
Kabab roundabout to Khudadad Chowrangi will be completed. “It is essential to
complete the construction of

this important corridor before
the end of the current financial
year.”
He said both tracks of
Shahra-e-Quaideen will be
widened to 36 feet with the removal of all roundabouts and
signals. “Two to three U-turns
will also be constructed on the
corridor while the storm water
drain alongside the road will be
covered.”
Syed said the reconstruction on ASHTo Standard of
this 1.55km road would cost
about Rs 315 million.
The administrator said an
alternate traffic plan had been
prepared as the route will remain close for vehicular traffic
until the completion of construction work.

There is a lot of potential in enhancing the volume of bilateral trade between the Netherlands and Pakistan, said The
Netherlands Ambassador to Pakistan Gajus Scheltema.
Talking informally to journalists on wednesday at the Avari
Towers, he said the current level of bilateral trade between
the two countries was up to the tune of $500 million with
the balance slightly in favour of Pakistan. The Dutch envoy
was of the view that there was quite a potential to increase
the bilateral trade further especially in the scope of collaboration in agriculture, dairy, horticulture, sanitation, water
and energy. He said that the Netherlands can extend support in the infrastructure projects that are economically viable. Scheltema said his country would also help Pakistan
in enhancing its exports of fisheries besides the fruits.
Pointing out the popularity of Pakistani mangoes in the
Netherlands, the Dutch ambassador said that assistance
would also be extended towards improvement of the Pasni
fish harbour. “Individually, the Pakistanis are very nice
people,” he remarked. “It is up to the Pakistanis themselves
to promote a positive image of their country abroad.” To a
question about energy, he said that in the Netherlands
there is more focus on solar energy than on wind energy.

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:35 AM Page 9

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

karachi 09
PakistaN today

‘threat’: KeSc wants
At a loss: national kitty PSM
security at grid station
robbed of Rs 13bn
KArAChI

HE national exchequer has suffered
losses
amounting to over
Rs 13 billion due
to the negligence and incompetence of the Sindh Excise
and Taxation (E&T) Department in collecting the taxes
on the import of crude oil
and alcohol, Pakistan Today
has learnt.
According to an official
report of the Auditor General
of Pakistan, despite the discovery of this blunder, the
Sindh government did not

take any serious notice.
Two offices of the department are responsible for collecting the Infrastructure
Cess Tax, from the importers
of crude oil imported
through pipelines.
By not collecting the
duty, the E&T Department
caused losses amounting to
Rs 6.9440 billion to the national exchequer.
This irregularity was indicated in 2010 but still no
action has been taken by the
provincial department taken.
It was also stated in the
official audit report that the
Provincial Excise Karachi
South Circle and Provincial

Excise Hyderabad Circle 3
could not collect the due
taxes on imported alcohol,
causing losses up to the tune
of Rs 5.1590 billion to the national treasury.
It was claimed that the
Excise Taxation offices
(ETos) Infrastructure Cess
at Karachi Port Trust and
Port Qasim Authority gave illegal concessions to various
companies of the Export Processing Zone and did not collect the tax, resulting in
losses of Rs 78.74 million.
Meanwhile, it was also
alleged that the Excise Department’s Deputy District
officer of Karachi 1 did not

collect the Property Tax
amounting to Rs 7.036 million from the Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi; Professional
Tax of Rs 8.5 million from
the Tando Muhammad Khan
Sugar Mills; Hotel Tax to the
tune of Rs 8.4 million from
the five star hotels situated in
Karachi. Moreover, millions
of rupees in taxes were also
not collected from the licenced wine shops.
All these financial irregularities, acts of incompetence and corruption were
pointed out in the report
from the Auditor General of
Pakistan office in the first
month of 2010.

Taking exception to the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) director’s alleged threat of
“shutting down power stations”, the Karachi Electric
Supply Company (KESC) has
asked the government to take
pre-emptive and punitive action against the perpetrator.
Referring to a news item
that appeared in a section of
press on behalf of PSM, the
KESC in a statement clarified that the due date of the
mill’s unpaid bill of Rs 210
million was February 20 and
not March 14 as falsely
claimed.
“The KESC had neither
entered into any negotia-

tions with the PSM nor had
there been any agreement on
the unpaid bill between the
two sides. The KESC had
simply sent a disconnection
notice to the PSM over the
non-payment of bills and
power supply was disconnected within the legal parameters after the mill failed
to pay despite more than five
weeks after the due date,” it
was stated.
Pointing out that the defiant attitude of state-owned
organisations needed to be
noted by the higher authorities, the KESC claimed that
the PSM statement was an
instigating effort to create a
law and order situation for
which it would be held responsible for any such hap-

pening.
“on its part, the KESC
will take all possible measures to protect its legal rights
but such a serious threat
coming from the PSM needs
immediate and forceful action from the civil and law
enforcement agencies for
protection of grid station located in the vicinity of PSM,”
it was stated.
Reiterating the stance
that extensive arrears on
part of many governmentrun organisations is causing
great financial difficulties,
the power utility claimed
that the problem is forcing
the KESC to miss on payments to its own providers
like the Sui Southern Gas
Company.

At romeMUn, SZABIST girl
bags scholarship award
KArAChI
STAFF REPORT

out of more than a thousand students from
across the world, Mina Kidwai – a student of
the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of
Science and Technology (SZABIST)’s Media
Sciences Department – bagged the Total
Scholarship Award at the RomeMUN (Rome
Model United Nations) conference, which
was held from March 19 to 23 in Italy. only
five students were selected for the special
award at the event endorsed by the United
Nations and its various organisations. Kidwai was the only student from Pakistan to be
selected for the 100 percent scholarship.
She also won an honorary mention in the US
SoCHUM (Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Affairs) Committee (SoCHUM) – one of
the six specialised subcommittees of the
United Nations General Assembly. The SZABIST, with campuses in Karachi, Islamabad, Larkana and Dubai, is a chartered
educational institute, approved and recognised by the Higher Education Commission
of Pakistan as a degree granting institution.

‘Missing’ children: SHc
calls on police high-ups
KARACHI: Issuing notices to
the Sindh Home Secretary, Inspector General of Police and
Senior Superintendents of Police
of Jamshoro and Malir, the Sindh
High Court (SHC) on wednesday
adjourned the hearing of a petition regarding missing children
until April 10. Citing her husband,
Muhammad Hassan Shaikh, and
police authorities as respondents,
petitioner Farida had submitted
that she got married with Shaikh
in 1995 and had five children.
Two months ago, her husband
married another woman and kidnapped her children. She prayed
in her petition that the children
may be freed from the custody of
her husband. The single bench
headed by SHC Chief Justice
Mushir Alam issued notices to
the respondents and postponed
the hearing to April 10. Meanwhile, another single bench issued notices to the respondents in
a plea filed against the bail
granted by a lower court to the alleged accused in a murder case.
The prosecution stated that
Hamid Ali had murdered his wife
Tooba Imtiaz in the remits of Liaquatabad police station. The police registered a case on the
complaint of the deceased’s
brother and also arrested the alleged accused. However, the suspect was granted bail by the
District and Sessions Judge Central on March 10. The petitioner
had filed the case against the decision of the bail. IMdAd SOOMRO

HAT’S the easiest
way to compile a
global list of pornographic websites?
Ask a 15-year-old
boy to do it for you.
That’s exactly what the Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
did as part of an effort to clean up
the country’s browsing habits.
Karachi-based Ghazi Muhammad Abdullah proved tireless in his
search, finding almost 780,000
adult pages in six months.
“I consider this my religious and
national task. If my elders don’t do
this for my generation, then I will do
it for mine and the forthcoming generations,” he says.

Pakistan – literally “land of the
pure” – has spent the past two years
pondering how to control access to
the Internet.
In 2010, authorities temporarily
blocked Facebook after blasphemous images of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) were posted
online. Short-lived bans on
YouTube, Twitter and other sites followed.
Now the government has asked
for tenders from IT companies to
construct a website filtering system,
which could prevent access to as
many as 50 million sites, angering
activists who fear the system will
limit political debate.
Abdullah said his campaign was
inspired by reports that Pakistanis
search online for terms related to
sex more than any other nation.

Google later refuted the headlines, saying the sample sizes were
too small to be statistically significant.
However, Ghazi wrote to the
PTA last year, asking why he was
still able to find hundreds of pornographic sites online even after thousands had been blocked.
It replied by explaining it could
ban sites only if it received a complaint about individual URLs.
So Ghazi, who wants to set up a
software house when he finishes his
studies, set about compiling a list.
He started a campaign to scour
the darkest recesses of the Internet,
roping in an IT professional to help
with the software needed.
He is secretive about exactly
how they did it, fearing it will help
website developers evade the ban.

Ghazi, now 16, said he would
continue his quest to prevent Pakistanis searching for porn. “Its adverse effects are visible in several
countries, especially in the west
where the family system has collapsed,” he added.
Previous attempts to censor
everyday life have occasionally
proved comical, including efforts to
clean up text messages.
Last year, regulators circulated a
list of more than 1,000 apparently
obscene words and phrases to be
banned from SMS services.
However, the plan was
ditched when it emerged that the
list was based on words banned
from American football jerseys in
the NFL, and included “tampon”,
“headlights” and even “Jesus
Christ”.

Pakistan has spent the past two years pondering how to control access to the Internet. Ap

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KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:35 AM Page 11

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

Editor’s mail 11

resolving national problems
There is no denying the fact that
Pakistan is facing all sorts of problems
most of which are lingering on as unresolved for varying reasons for years together. Somehow, all these problems,
list of which is pretty long, are left to the
political parties who are in power at the
national and provincial levels for finding
their solutions and resolving them.
other parties assume the role of opposition and they keep on firing their
guns on the federal and provincial governments for failing in doing this and
that without realising their own obligations and duties in this regard, even
though they may be sitting on the opposition benches in the national and
provincial legislatures.
PML(Q) President Chaudhry Shu-

jaat Hussain is a seasoned politician
who is known to have positive thinking
and approach to the national problems.
According to the reports appearing
in the media in recent days, the elder of
the Chaudhry Brothers from Gujrat has
said at least on two occasions in Lahore
and Islamabad that for resolving the national issues and problems all parties
will have to work together and that the
parties should evolve a strategy by consensus regarding all national level problems including load shedding and try to
play their role for resolving them in the
larger national interests.
The reports mentioned him saying
this while talking to media in Lahore
and Islamabad on two different occasions including one after meeting of the

A women only party
Central Parliamentary Party of PML (Q)
meeting in the federal capital the other
day.
one may have affiliation with a
party and differences with some others,
but it goes without emphasising that the
problems being faced by the nation and
the country have to be addressed on priority basis and efforts made to resolve
them at the earliest possible. Today’s
ruling party may be sitting on the opposition benches tomorrow and vice versa.
Political parties should be working
together to try to resolve the people’s
problems making their contributions
without indulging in criticism merely for
sake of criticism.
Ch Shujaat Hussain has quite rightly
said that all parties should be working

together and evolve line of action by
consensus by resolving the problems
faced by the nation and the country.
Quite obviously, he means that all petty
vested interests should be brushed aside
and the parties should be looking towards and working to serve the national
interests on which there could be and
must not be any compromise.
All political parties’ top leadership
should give due consideration to what
an elderly sensible politician like Ch
Shujaat Hussain has said and work out
how they can work together in the larger
national interests putting aside the petty
vested interests. This is indeed the dire
need of the hour.
TARIQ JAVED
Lahore

Memo case
Pakistan's former envoy to the US
Husain Haqqani has sought the
Supreme Court's permission to record
his testimony to the Memo Commission
via video link. Husain Haqqani has
made a fresh request to the Supreme
Court seeking similar facilities as those
provided to Mansoor Ijaz, the main
character of the Memogate.
If Husain Haqqani is linking his
video link with Mansoor Ijaz’s, then it
will be interesting to see whether Husain Haqqani will give his Blackberry
pin to Memo Commission just like Mansoor Ijaz did.
A few days back, Husain Haqqani
stated that I have forgotten Blackberry
pin codes. My question is if anyone forgets his/her Blackberry pin codes, then
is there any procedure of recovering it
or one has to buy new Blackberry?
MUBASHIR MAHMOOD
Karachi

Toulouse killings

Mumtaz Bhutto and nS
As per press report, Mumtaz Bhutto,
chief of Sindh National Front (SNF) has
said that Mian Nawaz Sharif is not antiSindh whereas he is preparing for a
merger of his party into Pakistan Muslim League (N) in the near future. Mumtaz Bhutto who is a seasoned politician
may be right but the people of Sindh
generally want to ask him three questions to reply in order to supplement his
claim:
1. why did Nawaz Sharif not
launch/complete any mega development project in Sindh during his two
tenures as prime minister (a total period of about six years)?
2. why did Nawaz Sharif abandon two
mega development projects launched
by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in Sindh
ie, Keti Bunder and Thar Coal project?
3. why is Nawaz Sharif not convincing
his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif,
chief minister of Punjab, not to object
on release of at least 10 MAF water
Kotri downstream as envisaged in
water Accord-1991 to avoid further
environmental disaster and human
tragedy in Sindh?
I hope that Mumtaz Bhutto or Mian
Nawaz Sharif would like to reply in detail to satisfy the people of Sindh.
MOHAMMAD KHAN SIAL
Karachi

road blockage
A section of Khayaban-e-Saadi that
leads down to Marine Promenade has
now been blocked off and is solely for
official use. This means that the other
side of the road that leads to Bilawal
Chowrangi has been transformed into a
double road, converting a service lane
into a full-fledged road.
The commercial area used to have a
service lane solely catering to businesses, with routes leading to apartment buildings and houses in Clifton
Block 2.
when VIPs pass through, all entry
and exit routes are sealed by containers
etc, which only leaves the route to Ziauddin Hospital open. The other roads
are already choked by oil tankers that
are defying a Supreme Court order to
vacate the area. The tankers have also
started parking on the hospital road.
Government should take immediate
action to solve this issue.
AFFAN MATI
Karachi

The male dominated political parties
are rendering lip services to safeguard
women rights and empower them but
fact of the matter is that provision of
equal rights and opportunities is still a
dream for women in our male dominated
society.
There are many non government organisations working for the empowerment of women in cities. The women
living in backward and rural areas are
being deprived of basic human rights in
the name of social customs, wrong interpretation of religion’s teaching, family
honour and cultural tradition.
If the women of Pakistan want equal
share in the affairs of country, they instead of becoming the wing of political
parties should form their own political
party and with a separate male wing. I
am sure the male wing of women political party will have more male members
then a female wing of a male party.
As Pakistani nation is divided on the
ideology front, a women political party
should adopt the ideology of Quaid-iAzam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to make
Pakistan a Muslim welfare state. The
Pakistan male politicians and military
generals have failed in the past 64 years
to make Pakistan as envisioned by its
founder. There are a number of educated
women politicians much better than
male politicians who are serving the
country. This party will not only be a first
in Pakistan but will also set an example
for other countries. I will be the first to
become a member of such a.
S T HUSSAIN
Lahore

The silent law
In her last written message Fakhra Yunus said that she
was committing suicide over the silence of law on the atrocities and insensitivity of Pakistani rulers. Another acid attack,
but this time the only difference was that that the one who
threw acid on her was himself a politician, a person who was
supposed to work for the betterment of this state. But his brutal act shows that he's worse than an animal.
This horrible event took place some 12 years ago and no

Illiteracy
The literacy rate in our country is not
so good as compared to other developing
countries of the world, although if a person can write his own name, he is considered as a literate person in Pakistan. The
biggest reason of the downfall of any nation is the alarming increase in its illiteracy rate.
Illiteracy is the root cause of almost
every problem today. It increases poverty
due to less employment and also decreases the educational facilities due to
lack of teachers and educated people. on
the whole, because of illiteracy we are left
behind in every aspect, economically, politically or educationally.
It also causes criminal activities as
due to less awareness and education,
people get involved in street crimes and
various other criminal activities to keep
up their living and necessities of life. Like
this, illiteracy is the root of many other
problems in this country.
I just want to address the government and the authorities and request
them to please consider this issue seriously and take measures to increase the

action was taken, no justice for her. This also shows how ineffective our law is. A strict action has to be taken against the
culprit.
It's time Fakhra should get justice. But Fakhra is not the
only victim, there are many other women seeking justice in
this country. They must all get justice.
SEHAR ARSHAD
Karachi

education and literacy rate in the benefit
of Pakistan.
YURJA KAZMI
Karachi

To make money while sitting at home
is a dream every person has. Modern
technology and the internet have made it
possible in more ways than one to do a
lot from home. one such possibility is
earning money. Realising that there is a
lot of talent across the world, companies
and organisations hire people throughout
the world through the internet.
Large multinationals and companies
hire people across the world and provide
them an opportunity to earn money from
the comfort of their homes. Numerous
people from this region work for such
companies to earn a decent living and
while the jobs require some work, they
can serve as an alternative to most conventional jobs. But there is a downside to
all this: some organisations are deceiving
people in the name of making money online. As there is little regulation for taking online jobs and people in this part of

the world are less aware of such opportunities provided through the internet,
fraudulent individuals trick people into
paying registration money for online employment and take advantage of them.
Either these people run away with
the registration money or in some cases
serve as middlemen in the process of getting paid. They hire others and make
them do the work, get paid themselves,
and hand out a minimal amount of
money to the actual workers while making huge profits themselves.
This has become somewhat of a common trend in online jobs in Pakistan.
Even in cases where people are actually
paid to work, the money they receive is
far less when compared to the work that
they do and certainly considerably lower
than what the fraudulent employers receive from the real internet employers.
The authorities should take notice of
such conmen and punish those who exploit the needs of the poor. Further
awareness regarding internet jobs should
be provided to ensure that people are not
cheated.
FARIHA FAZAL
Karachi

use of force and abuse of political clout,
or resort to extortion and kidnapping for
ransom takes place in cities, while in villages they are involved in protection
rackets and stealing of cattle.
The urban and rural feudals are involved in land grabbing, and prevail on
law enforcement agencies, exploiting
their political influences, each joining
every government that is in power in
their province or at federal level.
The urban feudal exercises direct
control over media, through threats and
periodic target killings of journalists,

who dare to cross the line and expose
their illegal practices. It was shocking to
see a talk show where a platform was
provided to Bilal Khar, without a fair
chance to any surviving relative of
Fakhra, who may dare to point a finger at
him.
Both patronise criminals, who rob
citizens, be it in the shape of street
crimes, car grabbing, or providing patronage to robber barons that terrorize
those who travel by road. As a society we
have degenerated to such lows that it had
to be Italy which offered refuge to

opportunity and a scam

This is with reference to the killings
of seven peoples in Toulouse (France) by
Muhammad Merah, a 24-year-old
French national of Algerian origin. He
had been under surveillance by French
intelligence for a couple of years, having
already committed certain infractions,
some with violence. The killings occurred
during a divisive presidential race that
had already turned toward questions of
immigration and Islam.
It is unfortunate to note here that
immediately after the incident French
and international media started accusing
Pakistan as responsible for the killings.
Mr Merah made two trips to Afghanistan
and Pakistan in November 2010 and August 2011 respectively. According to the
French authorities, he made them on his
own as monitored by the French intelligence agencies. However, the reports do
not suggest his links and training in
tribal areas, even as per media reports
TTP has disowned any role behind the
killings.
Even though some French investigators say Mr Merah was effectively a lone,
self-radicalised extremist, his violent ideology fits closely with some French
stereotypes of Islam, and Muslims in
France fear that the tensions brought on
by the murders may prove more lasting.
Merah’s links with Pakistan is a typical
example of malafide objectives to malign
Pakistan for providing sanctuaries to foreign fighters and blanketing the issues of
homegrown problems of radicalisation
attributed to various reasons confronted
by European countries.
AFIA AMBREEN
Rawalpindi

feudal curse and brutality
Be it Fakhra Younus or wali Babar
from Karachi, Nafees Khan of Mith Ranjha, they are victims of a feudal mindset
which dominates our corridors of power
in cities, towns and villages. It is not just
rural landed illiterates which are accused
of the curse of this feudal mindset, but
also urban mafias which have been smitten by this evil.
Both run private torture cells, private
jails and armed criminal gangs, and resort to shut down of markets within their
turf to blackmail administration and enforce their writ. Threats of intimidation,

Fakhra, or Canada to Dr Shazia Khalid,
instead of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, because their abusers were either
an electable feudal or part of establishment. Nothing much has changed in
eight years of martial law, or four years
of democratic rule to bring these culprits
to justice. It is unfortunate that justice in
Pakistan is denied on technicalities by
hiring shrewd lawyers, while victims of
brutality die in vain, frustrated by years
of denial of justice.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore

t’s a tightrope walk in the middle of a blizzard. In the
deliberations on how to proceed with relations with the
US, the government faces an almost impossible task.
First, there is the parliament itself, with the principal
opposition party, which had reportedly reached a private
consensus of sorts earlier with the treasury benches, making
an about turn on the issue. In fact, the League even made
common cause with the Taliban on the issue of the Nato
supply lines. This, in addition to the expected line of the
right-wing JUI(F) on the issue. All this, of course, is taking
place in the usual atmosphere of the cat-herding that
running a coalition government is, with the ANP and the
MQM getting up in arms again.
outside the house, the Difa-e-Pakistan Council, with its
usual chanting of slogans against any possible resumption of
the Nato supply routes. It would be a little difficult to carry
on in that ruckus, especially given the threats by some of the
members of the DPC to try to physically stop said
resumption. Matters are further complicated by threats of
militant organisations to target legislators in case the
parliament does approve the resumption of the supply
routes.
with so many things going against it, why doesn’t the
government simply not resume the routes? For starters,
there is the financial aspect. The government makes money
off the transit routes and that, presumably, helps in these
lean times. Secondly, there is the larger issue of relations
with the US. They certainly have their own set of complaints.
And, given how we had egg on our face in the aftermath of
osama Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, we cannot really
afford to be churlish for lack of a moral higher ground.
Third, though the foreign minister says an apology for the
Salala incident won’t be enough, there is very little to say
what would be. More aid?
Fourthly, and this is a larger issue than our relations with
the US, is the matter of principle. The political government
has entrusted, out of a need to build a consensus, the issue of
the supply routes to the parliament. It is only the parliament,
then, that should decide, based on how the body weighs the
pros and cons. Not because the parliament is being held
siege to, so to speak, by several interest groups.

Mayhem in Karachi
And again…

N

ormalcy has returned to Karachi after hours of
mayhem that took toll of 10 lives and resulted in
the burning of over 50 vehicles. The MQM’s
warning that unless the murderers of one of its
activists and his brother are arrested within 48 hours, it will
take unspecified decisions indicates that peace in Karachi
continues to hang by a thread. That two innocent persons
were killed inside their house is a highly regrettable incident.
Coming as it does in the wake of several killings of the sort
including that of the wife and daughter of a Balochistan
MPA, Shia clerics and lawyers, and an ANP worker on
Sunday, the incident is a reminder that there is still no
respite to targeted murders in Karachi. Law and order being
the responsibility of the provincial government, the tragic
occurrences are a reflection on the performance of the Sindh
CM and home minister. Unlike earlier killings, however, the
present incident instantly led to widespread rioting in the
city.
All the coalition components of the Sindh administration
are expected in situations like this to act responsibly. It is
their duty to cool the rising tempers to maintain peace in the
mega city. The MQM which has the largest representation
from Karachi has all the more reason to ensure that the city
does not revert to lawlessness. what one had expected from
the party was to hand over whatever evidence it possessed to
police and work through the administrative machinery to
ensure that the case was pursued efficiently. what it did
instead was to issue a statement accusing elements in the
Karachi Amn Committee and called for mourning all over
Sindh. Its legislators walked out from the joint sitting of
parliament. while parties sitting in the opposition sometime
undertake protests against the government, it is unusual for
an ally of the government to resort to tactics of the sort.
while the killing of even a single human being should be
condemned, attempts have to be made by all stakeholders in
Karachi to avoid creating a situation where more innocent
lives are likely to be lost. It is all the more important to do so
because criminals of all sorts are waiting in the wings for an
opportunity to benefit from the worsening of law and order
situation.

he world is being sucked into a
vortex of embattlement and warring. The first experiment of this
‘war’ is being conducted on Pakistan. The interesting thing is
while the aggressor is the US, the aggression
is emanating from all Pakistani quarters.
our leaders, government officials, public
representatives, religious politicos, or any
one for that matter doesn’t refrain from rapping on the US while the US is taking all this
huffing and puffing with patience and assuring that we will take care of Pakistan’s grievances. But our representatives have
mistaken the patience of the US representatives for something else and are putting demand after demand in front of them
thinking that now the US is in our clamp, we
should milk it for all it’s worth.
whichever determined hero I talk to,
they all claim with single-minded confidence
that “the US cannot exit Afghanistan without
our help.” This means that we have convinced ourselves that the US indeed does
want to leave Afghanistan and that these
people believe that the US will stick to the
timetable it has given for leaving
Afghanistan. But who will make the US follow this timetable? who? The maulvi
sahiban who are out to ‘defend’ Pakistan?
will they make the US scoot? will the Jamaat-e-Islami take care of the US like it took
care of India in East Pakistan? or will it be
our media crusaders who don’t like hearing
the name the US but are ever-willing and
ever-waiting for invitation to tours to the
very same country? when I hear the yammering of such people, I say “we’ll show the
US by not taking their money.” But even that
doesn’t happen. we threaten the US, try to
intimidate it but we also keep asking for dollars. The interesting thing is that the US is
also taking the bait to an extent.
Those who think that the US will attack
us directly are bound to be disappointed.
Military action is always taken where other
options are not available. In the past decade
or so, the US and its allies have taken formal
military action against three countries; these
attacks and invasions were conducted on
countries where no other options were available.
The first such military action was in
Afghanistan. The country is so backward and
under-developed, with virtually no economy, infrastructure or functioning society to
speak of, that any conspiracy could be enacted there. They neither have industry or a
financial system which the US could strangle
as leverage. Al-Qaeda had dens all over this
administratively anarchic country and was
carrying out its plan all around the world
from its safe havens here. The US attacked
Afghanistan because the country was already too entropic for the US to manipulate
through engineering some kind of intrigue

or chaos.
The second, Iraq. It was under Saddam
Hussein’s dictatorship. It had cut off all
kinds of trade relations with the US. The
Americans weren’t even allowed to enter the
country under the pretext of reporting or
tourism. If any American was allowed at all,
they were kept under strict surveillance. No
Iraqi citizen was allowed to have any relations with a US citizen. If an Iraqi was even
found to be merely conversing with an
American, they would find themselves in a
cosy torture cell the very next day. Twothirds of the staff of an Iraqi embassy was
designated to keep tabs on Iraqi diplomats.
Iraq wasn’t short on dollars courtesy their
earnings from oil exports. No Iraqi was
dying of hunger; they would either die a natural death or from that of a bullet from the
gun of Saddam’s soldier. Ina country like
that, the US had no other option but to directly invade it. They could neither send
spies there, nor terrorists. They could also
neither send secret agents nor blackmail
them by drying up the dollar stream. Thus,
the attack.
And then there was Libya. Some time
ago, the US had to change the government
over there and it was able to make do with
just air raids. This is because Qaddafi had
lifted the various bans on the US to get
American favour. He had also resumed trade
ties with them to that end. The Americans
were able to come and go freely. Thus, it was
very easy to infiltrate the country with US
agents. All those people who were exiled
from Libya were also brought back. All these
people organised and revolted against
Qaddafi. Nato’s bombers reduced the Libyan
forces to nothing. All of Qaddafi’s military
might amounted to naught and he had to die
at the hands of his won people. But our situation is possibly even worse than that of
Libya’s. If the US ever does decide to move
against us, it wouldn’t need any boots on the
ground or any fighter jets in the air.
Each thread of the Pakistani economy is
inextricably tied to the US. our forex reserves are in dollars. Most of our exports are
to the US and to its allies. A big chunk of our
forex earnings comes from these countries.
obviously, these are our earnings but they
can be cut off if and when the US so wants.
It doesn’t need any new excuse. As long as
North waziristan is present, they will have a
readymade pretext to levy sanctions on us.
The IFI’s that we are indebted to, if they insist on timely payments on our many many
debts, we can be made to default in a matter
of minutes. The lifeline that is extended to
us sometimes by the world Bank and IMF,

that too will not be there. The arms and
fighter jets that we got from the US, if we
don’t get the tools, parts and money to maintain them and the supply of these is interrupted, these arms and jets will turn into
scrap in a matter of four months.
If such a scenario were to play out, all
the airs and graces of our ruling elites will
have to go. The electricity that we get for a
few hours, we won’t even have the money to
produce that. There already was little electricity for the loud speakers that our maulvi
sahiban shout themselves hoarse through,
but it will then be hard to even get batteries
for them. we have no ready alternative for
all the aid, loans and earning we get from the
US and its allies. The anti-US elements in
Pakistan have presumptuously made up
their minds that China will fill that gap. But
is that even a possibility? what we get from
China is coming in because the US has never
objected to it. we have a recent example: as
soon as the US made the slightest indication
about its displeasure, China promptly declined to fund the Iran-Pakistan pipeline. It
is but to be expected. why would any country preface its external friendship over its
own interests? In China’s mammoth mountain-like economy, our contribution probably amounts to a square foot of grass. why
would the mountain care if that miniscule
patch of green flourishes or dries up? on the
other hand, the US is a significant trading
partner of China and they would never jeopardise their economy which is reliant on the
US for Pakistan.
what would we do of the nuclear bombs
that we have amassed if the situation that I
have just sketched out for you plays out, God
forbid? For us, pushing us into the vortex of
entropy is enough. we don’t need to be engaged in any war. we need to shelve our
delusions of grandeur and get a dose of reality. Those who say that the Afghans ‘defeated’ the US, don’t they see that the US is
still occupying Afghanistan? US props are
still running the country. It is not
Afghanistan that has destroyed the US; it is
quite the other way round. The more
Afghans resist and try to bleed the US, the
more Afghanistan will bleed.
Those talking of the economic problems
of the US needn’t worry about that. That
country is the home of capital and capital
creation. They can revive their economy simply by imposing a war on a country like us.
If the mammoth is weakened, the itty bitty
bunnies have nothing to be happy about.
The writer is one of Pakistan’s most
widely read columnists.

Regional Press

Inextricably linked
Daily Pashtun Post

P

akistan and Afghanistan share a long and porous border.
Hence, the countries can in no way avoid the negative
spillover from developments in the other country. It is inevitable that the other will feel the pinch in the wake of bad conditions in the neighbouring country.
The law and order in Pakistan, particularly Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, has been on a veritable downslide ever since the
US invaded Afghanistan. Due to the ensuing anarchy and violence in war-ravaged Afghanistan, KP has also seen acts of terrorism and violence continue and increase unabated and that
has cost thousands of lives and robbed the region of peace and
stability.
Political analysts are right in saying that peace in the

province is tied to that tranquillity prevailing in Afghanistan.
Along with peace in the neighbouring country, another condition
for peace is spreading education and awareness in the region and
fighting obscurantist mindsets by inculcating tolerance and
broad-mindedness in the impoverished masses.
Analysts are also spot on in saying that peace can never be
achieved unless the two countries cooperate meaningfully to that
end. These countries are neighbours and no wishing away will
change this fact. They are inextricably linked, for better or for
worse. Hence, both the countries must realise the imperatives of
corruption. As the current situation stands, peace in Afghanistan
is a prerequisite for peace in Pakistan in general and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa in particular.
– Translated from the original Pashto by Abdur Rauf
Khattak

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:36 AM Page 13

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

the past that wasn’t
Before Pakistan makes the cultural choice of going back to
the glory of its mythical past, it must remember that that
past never existed

Man bites dog
By harris Bin Munawar

N

ationhood is a cultural
artefact. It mixes political
thought with literary expression to define geographical
and ideological boundaries in
which a people reside. with time,
the factual historical content becomes irrelevant. what remains
is a myth.
we celebrate March 23 as
the day on which the “Pakistan
Resolution” was adopted in Lahore in 1940. It is irrelevant now
that the resolution was renamed
and made no mention of “Pakistan”.
Textbooks are an important
method of disseminating that
myth. “India is our traditional
enemy and we should always
keep ourselves ready to defend
our beloved country from Indian
aggression,” 11-year-olds are
taught.
The creation of Pakistan is
justified with the two-nation theory - the idea that Muslims and
Hindus in the subcontinent were
two separate nations. India is the
other, without which there is no
we. This national narrative defines a goal (security) and an
enemy (India) and in doing so
makes possible a meaningful coexistence of a diverse people who
refer to themselves as a nation.
“As a general rule, Hindu
morale would not stand more
than a couple of hard blows delivered at the right time and the
right place,” said a directive by
president Ayub Khan to General
Muhammad Musa, the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan
Army, on August 29 1965 just before we began a war with India
(Annexure G to GHQ Letter
4050/5/Mo-1). To the utter sur-

prise of then foreign minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had
drafted the text of the order, that
turned out to be false.
By that time Pakistan had already begun operation Gibraltar.
on August 5 and 6, hundreds of
poorly trained ‘mujahids’ were
into the Indian-held Kashmir
with no clear goals with the expectation that Muslims of Kashmir will join them and revolt
against the Indian government.
That would legitimise a Pakistani
troop movement into Indianheld Kashmir (like a similar situation legitimised the movement

peace.” In the ensuing see-saw
battles in and around Lahore and
Sialkot, the Pakistan army did a
very good job at defending its
territory, but they did nothing
that could even be remotely regarded as a victory.
Instead of learning lessons
from tactical and strategic mistakes in the war, Pakistan responded by spiritualising its
military objectives – an approach
that led to the eventual goal of
pan-Islamism and the belief that
the Pakistani army was destined
to restore Islam’s lost glory.
Muhammad bin Qasim is

Instead of learning lessons from
tactical and strategic mistakes in the
war, Pakistan responded by
spiritualising its military objectives –
an approach that led to the eventual
goal of pan-Islamism and the belief
that the Pakistani army was destined
to restore Islam’s lost glory.
of Indian troops in 1971 into
what was then East Pakistan).
Unfortunately for them, that did
not happen. Muslims of Indianheld Kashmir did not share the
same narrative as Muslims of
Pakistan. It took them another
35 years of oppression to realise
they needed to rebel.
India’s attack on Lahore on
September 6 was therefore not a
sudden act of aggression on an
unaware neighbour, as Pakistani
textbooks claim, but an unexpected retaliation. A plan approved by the Indian Cabinet in
1949 for such a situation, said
“Indian troops in Kashmir would
seek to contain the opposing
forces while the main Indian
field army made a determined
and rapid advance towards Lahore and Sialkot.” That is exactly
what they did. “The primary aim
of this strategy,” according to A
wright, “was to inflict a decisive
defeat on Pakistan’s field army
and, along with the possible occupation of Lahore, to compel
the Pakistan government to seek

revered as the first Arab Muslim
to arrive and conquer Sindh.
Hardly anyone knows that he
was called back, tortured and put
in prison, according to one group
of historians while the other
group says he died while being
transferred to Syria, wrapped in
animal hides. Muslim conquerors did not arrive in the subcontinent with a common goal of
propagating Islam, but got thousands of people killed in mutual
battles for power.
Before Pakistan makes the
cultural choice of going back to
the glory of its mythical past, it
must remember that that past
does not exist. If we return to it,
we will only serve kings and emperors who claim divine support
and exterminate thousands of
Muslims who do not agree with
them.
The writer is a media and
culture critic and works at The
Friday Times. He tweets @paagalinsaan and gets email at harris@nyu.edu

comment 13

Stars no more
Where is this talent we keep hearing about?

B

angladesh’s performance in last week’s
Asia cup was heralded as brilliant. Even
in defeat, victory was theirs. The cricketing world shared their euphoria. They won
hearts and minds. It was a courageous, determined and almost successful campaign. Full
marks to them.
And then, misguided in their exuberance,
they lost the plot. This ridiculous protest to
try to change the result of the match through
technicalities is unbecoming. It smacks of bad
sportsmanship. one could expect an exchange of words or protest, in the heat of the
moment, if an incident did occur on the field.
But for it to come as an afterthought, on the
alleged basis of review of video clips, must be
considered premeditated. whoever the adviser deserves the boot.
A moment that is to be cherished and
recorded in history in glowing terms will now
be overshadowed by a lacklustre and meaningless protest. I don’t for a moment believe
that anybody in the Bangladesh team really
believes that the incident was a deliberate
foul. There is no reason to believe that the
umpire’s report at the end of the match carries any such mention. There is universal condemnation.
So why this delayed reaction? Especially
since talks for a tour of Pakistan by the
Bangladesh team are at an advanced stage. I
am sure there are many who do not
Random Thoughts wish for this tour to take place. If it
goes smoothly, as one believes it will,
By Imran husain
the onus will be on the other teams to
seriously consider similar tours. Perhaps these teams prefer playing Pakistan in the Emirates. It’s certainly
more conducive to off ground activities. However, if Bangladesh has
fallen prey to these machinations and
this protest is conceived to throw the
intended tour to Pakistan, then it is a
low blow.
And the timing was nasty. At a
time when emotions are high, on the
occasion of Pakistan’s Republic Day
and Bangladesh’s Liberation Day,
and slow healing wounds fester, prudence demands that controversies,
especially totally unnecessary, must
be avoided at all costs. There is so
much cooperation between the two
countries at present. The entire textile sector in Bangladesh is manned
by high level Pakistani technical expertise and investment is flowing into
that country. The best advice would
be to wallow in the glory of near victory rather than destroy goodwill.
Having said this Pakistan played
well below the average even for a
team that is notoriously unstable.
There is no comparison between the
calibres of the teams, notwithstanding this very close result. Pakistan all

but lost the match and left little unturned in
trying hard to do so. The team’s inability to
contain the Bangladesh onslaught was pathetic. They were really fortunate to escape
defeat.
Pakistan cricket needs a new look. Everyone, except the vested interest, agrees to this.
The sight of a new, ostensibly twentieth century chairman, sitting with 75-year-old Intikhab as principal consort was ridiculous.
Inti, at the best of times, was and is literally
helpless. He gave what he could to cricket and
was never foreseen as the unbridled, perpetual mentor he has wrongly become. It is time
he and a host of others were given a resounding farewell. Zaka Asharf, as a relatively successful businessman, was expected to realise
the need to dispense with all those past their
sell-by dates. And to inculcate viable, modern
processes that would empower cricket at all
levels and thus encourage a far greater asset
pool of talent. A year down the line there are
no such visible signs.
Right now, we hear of murmurings
around Mohammed Amir and his possible
resurrection. Look, Amir is in cricketing
terms ‘dead’. Bury him and move on. Find the
Amirs playing in Sialkot, Multan, Jhelum,
Bhakkar, Sukkur and around the mausoleums
of Jehangir and Noor Jehan. I’ve played representative cricket and I talk of the tombs, because I saw a young man there last week, a
spinner, put so much work on the ball, it mesmerised me. Ask those with me; they’ll confirm! He is the type of talent you need to take
to the academy and nurture. There are hundreds like him.
we are after all a country of 180 million
people and there is no shortage of talent. But
no one will pick such talent. It doesn’t bring
with it citations of the rich and famous. what
it does do is bring raw talent and the cricketing world thrives on it. Look at India: it turns
out one after the other. Look at us: we spend
decades producing the best fast bowling pairs
in the world and then the talent just dies.
Leaving us to celebrate television images of
wasim and waqar at the height of glory. This
is the total failure of the current system.
The mafia infallibility encourages abusive
and arrogant behaviour, for example Afridi’s
recent incident at Karachi airport. Unforgivable, regardless of provocation. I recall an incident when a top young batsman, I am trying
hard to recall the name, hit a fan with his batting glove after falling cheaply. My father,
who was chairman of selectors at the time,
saw that he never played representative
cricket again. This is what is required today.
Gaddafi stadium needs to move beyond its
confines and reach out to real talent. The bulk
of this team is over. Stop flogging dead
horses. They are stars no more.
The writer may be contacted via e-mail
at imranmhusain@gmail.com

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:36 AM Page 14

14

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

Madonna's ‘MdNA’

fAShioN
NAKUL SeN
AMbreeN, fArhAN

MAriA dAdA

SofiA NAveed LAr

zAiNAb SAjid

receives lukewarm welcome
LoS ANGeLeS
REUTERS

T

HE music doesn't stop for pop icon
Madonna, and neither does the controversy, as the 53-year-old 'Queen of
Pop' returns to the spotlight with her
latest album ‘MDNA’. The uptempo record
‘MDNA’ sees Madonna continue her love affair
with dance music in an album dedicated to
club-friendly tracks. And Madonna has lost
none of her ability to push boundaries, just as
she did 25 years ago with themes of
sexuality and youth rebellion. The
title, ‘MDNA’-an allusion to the
drug MDMA or ecstasy-has
caused a stir, while the music
video for the second single,
‘Girl Gone wild’, has been
slapped with an age restriction after YouTube
deemed it too raunchy
for under 18 yearolds. Madonna has
said that the title
meaning of her 12th
studio album is threefold- a reduction of her
name, an abbreviation for
‘Madonna DNA’, and a reference to ecstasy and the euphoria often experienced by its
users. But some music critics

haven't exactly been blown away despite
Madonna recruiting a bevy of top dance music
producers, including house music DJ Benny
Benassi, electro-pop duo LMFAo and her
Grammy-winning ‘Ray of Light’ album producer william orbit. The Los Angeles Times
gave the album two out of four stars, saying it
doesn't "offer much in the way of innovation,"
and that the iconic singer had "fallen
behind...she is no longer setting the conversation in a genre she essentially invented." The
songs are tied together with hard bass beats and
electro-synth tunes in uptempo dance songs
like ‘Gang Bang’ and ‘Girl Gone wild’.
‘Falling Free’ is one of the few tracks that
change pace from the album's dancecore theme, described by Billboard's
Keith Caulfield as a "gorgeous ballad." The Golden Globe-winning
song ‘Masterpiece,’ from the
soundtrack of Madonna's film
‘w.E.’ also stood out with its
delicate acoustic guitar
melody. The Guardian gave
the album three out of five
stars, calling it "business as
usual" for the pop star. New
York Magazine said “a lot of
the music here feels hollow
and strained...There is much
expensive workmanship and
machine-tooling around here,
but not much...Madonna.”

NAKUL SeN

zAiNAb SAjid

fNKASiA

showcase 2012 day 2: Rainbow on the ramp
NeWS DeSK
The day two of showcase 2012 started on a
stronger note despite the tense law and order
situation in Karachi. The who’s who of the
fashion industry were present to view the collections of the local and foreign designers:
Zainab Sajid: opened the second day of showcase 2012 with her brand Aqua by presenting
the Mera Pakistan collection, inspired by landmarks such as the Minar-e-Pakistan and had
a bold colour palette and dramatic embellishments. Bareeze: Rang Ja, the new prêt line by
Bareeze, was bold, contemporary and colourful. The traditional designs celebrated our rich
heritage yet embodied style and individuality.
Farhan and Ambreen: Their new collection is
named ‘Colours of Nature’ and was inspired by
the beauty of the natural world, capturing the
hues of ‘Sunset and Rainbow’. It represented
romance, relaxation and joy. Ellemint: Two
young designers showcased their collections
under this label. Sofia Naveed Lari’s personal
interest in nature was reflected in the simplicity of her designs. Using bright hues paired up
with dazzling floral prints, Sofia’s collection
was a breath of fresh air. Marya Dada’s collec-

tion was inspired by the essence and true feel
of Africa, which she captured through her experimentation with colours and prints.
Rizwanullah: The collection ‘Art meets fashion’
combined the processes of thought and feeling.
Nakul Sen: His brand's forte lies in its ability
to cast a contemporary twist to Indian craftsmanship, while appealing to international
tastes. The brand presented an exquisite contemporary evening wear for discerning and
stylish women across the world. Nida Khurram: Her collection was rich yet simple. She
strived to propel fashion from elite craft into
a cornerstone of contemporary popular culture for women all around. Studio FH: Fouzal
Hameed’s name is legendary in the men’s
fashion industry. His vast knowledge and experience in men’s wear has raised the bar of
men’s fashion in Sri Lanka and beyond. For
showcase 2012 he presented sporty looking
jackets with contrasting pants and shirts, vibrantly coloured summer suits and ceremonial suits. Fnk Asia: The brand’s collection for
the finale was all about festivity. The collection was energetic, playful and fun with
splashes of yellow and whites, giving the
wearer a ‘rise and shine’ feeling.

Bips and
dagguB Rana
‘cLoSe f ati end
rieNdSh
iP’

NEW DELHI: Bipasha
Basu and Rana
Daggubati have
reportedly called off
their on and off
relationship. Their
friendship, which had
blossomed on the sets of
‘Dum Maro Dum’,
helped them gain
publicity. of the two,
Rana seems to have
benefited the most from
this association as he
has recently bagged a
film with Ram Gopal
Verma. AGENCIES

fUzAL
hAMeed

sRK, anushka in
Akshay:
flops don’t bother me Farah’s next film
MUMBAI: His last few films may not have done well
at the box office but actor Akshay Kumar says he
has seen a rougher patch earlier when he delivered
14 flops. Except for ‘Desi Boyz’, Akshay’s recent
outings including Priyadarshan’s ‘Khatta Meetha’,
Vipul Shah’s ‘Action Replayy’, Farah Khan’s ‘Tees
Maar Khan’, Anees Bazmee’s ‘Thank You’ did not
fare well with the audience, but he is least perturbed
with flops. “Flops don’t bother me. I just work harder
in my next film. Every human being has to go from
high to low from low to high. If you understand that,
then you will never have a problem,” Akshay said in
an interview. “Seven years ago, I delivered 14 flops.
Big deal. You just keep on working,” the 44-year-old
actor said. At a time when actors like Salman Khan,
Shahrukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and others vie for Rs
100-crore mark on the opening weekend at BO,
Akshay says records will keep on happening and
breaking. “I was the first guy whose film ‘Singh is
Kinng’ raked in Rs 70-80 crore but soon some other
film came in and it was broken. Every year that
benchmark is going to increase,” he said. However,
Akshay has an eventful year this time, with Sajid
Khan`s multi-starrer comic-caper, ‘Housefull 2’,
besides ‘Rowdy Rathore’, where he would be seen as
a action hero, Shirish Kunder`s fantasy adventure
film, ‘Joker’, action-comedy ‘Khiladi 786’ and a heist
drama, ‘Special Chabbis’. AGENCIES

MUMBAI: Barely days after Shah rukh Khan and her
husband Shirish Kunder hugged and made up after their
infamous brawl at Sanjay Dutt's party at a Juhu
nightclub, farah Khan managed a casting coup of sorts
by roping in SrK as the leading man in her next.
wasting no further time, the choreographer-turneddirector has now zeroed in on her leading lady as well.
farah has gone no further than SrK's ‘rab ne Bana Di’
Jodi co-star Anushka Sharma for the prized role. Anushka
is very excited with the offer, and has agreed in principle.
And the modalities are being worked out. It would also
be safe to say that like other biggies in B-town, SrK too,
may have had a say in Anushka's selection. A source
said, “farah obviously wants someone big in the film;
someone who is hot and happening. Kareena Kapoor
and Katrina Kaif were the obvious choices but Anushka
has won the race.” The source added, “farah too is quite
fond of Anushka. She was quite impressed by her
dancing abilities in ‘rab ne Bana Di Jodi’.” Meanwhile,
Anushka, who will soon also start shooting with Aamir
Khan for ‘Peekay’, is busy working out her dates for
farah's film. The source pointed out that Anushka and
SrK have always shared an excellent professional
equation. “They gelled very well during the making of
‘rab ne Bana Di Jodi’, where they were romantically
paired,” the source explained. with farah's film expected
to hit theatres in 2013, it would be refreshing to see SrK
and Anushka together again after five years. AGENCIES

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:36 AM Page 15

15

ofiA NAveed LAri

bAreeze

teen sensation
Lohan set to end
Justin Bieber sued probation and star on‘glee’
over phone prank

‘The hunger
Games’ sparks
racism row

LoS ANGeLeS
AGENCIES

LoS ANGeLeS
AGENCIES

LoNDoN
AGENCIES

zAiNAb SAjid

rizWANULLAh

Teen sensation Justin Bieber is facing legal action over a phone
prank. The 18-year-old posted a phone number on twitter with the
last digit missing and told his 19 million followers on the microblogging site to call him, reported Sun online. As fans tried to guess the
remaining number, two Texans claim they were plagued with
phonecalls from teenage girls at all hours of the day. The tweet was
quickly deleted but the two say the stunt was "reckless" and that
the harassment continued. The lawyer acting for the pair said her
clients` patience "wears thin" after receiving over 1,000 phone calls
and they want compensation for all the problems caused by the
prank. They also suggest Bieber could make it up to the disgruntled
duo with an apology, concert tickets and cash.

Veena to play a vampire in

‘Mumbai 125Km’

ryan Gosling takes on disaﬀected
youth in new documentary

NeWS DeSK
After her numerous appearances in Bollywood, Pakistani drama queen Veena
Malik will play a vampire in
her latest Bollywood flick
‘Mumbai 125Km’. Malik
seems to believe in versatility and says she strives to
play a variety of roles that
range from ‘Channo’ to the
horror of a vampire. Malik
will appear as the lead in
Telugu filmmaker Hemant Madhukar’s latest Bollywood
horror movie ‘Mumbai 125Km’. The film is a second original
Hindi 3D Movie. Malik, her co-star for the film, Karanveer
Bohra and the team was highly excited on the last day of the
film’s shoot. The actress said: “I am playing a very strong
character in ‘Mumbai 125 Kms’. It is not a typical character.
I am not romancing or anything with anyone. The character
has thrill, horror, a beauty and a beast.”

Lindsay Lohan is set to start preparing for her guest appearance on
‘Glee’ after her formal probation finally ends on Thursday. She
wrapped up her final 14 days of morgue janitorial duty and last five
therapy sessions wrapped on wednesday. The actress is slated for
one of the season's final episodes of the hit comedy, playing herself
as a celebrity judge at Nationals, TVline.com reported. According
to her spokesman Steve Honig, she will then jet to Vancouver to
start filming the TV movie ‘Liz and Dick’, in which she'll play Elizabeth Taylor. The comeback bid, which started with last month's
turn on 'Saturday Night Live', is in full swing. If all goes according
to plan, the actresses’ double-DUI case will be terminated. A lastminute claim Lohan was involved in a recent Hollywood hit-andrun appears to have run out of gas. “She really buckled down on
this. She's been getting up at 5 in the morning for the community
service for a while now. She's a champ,” Honig said. He said Lohan,
25, had no plans to “celebrate” other than holding “her head high.”

LoS ANGeLeS
AGENCIES

‘ReGENERATIoN’, produced and narrated by Ryan Gosling, is a documentary
that takes a look at how political apathy
among young people ultimately contributed to the occupy wall Street
movement. The film explores the widespread cynicism of today's younger generations and features some of the worlds
leading scholars, activists, and media
personalities, including Andrew Bacevich, Noam Chomsky and Amy Goodman. Those featured share insights on
how the seedlings of ideas can transform
into inspiring movements and incite
change. ‘ReGENERATIoN’ explores
how education, parenting, and media
can shape society, as the film traces the
influence of these institutions on the

Ranbir Kapoor

turns tapori
MUMBAI: After playing a rockstar in Imtiaz Ali's
film in 2011, Ranbir Kapoor is ready to explore
roles in varied genres this year. With the shoot of
Ayaan Mukerji's romance ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwani’
already on floors, and Anurag Kashyap's period film
‘Bombay Velvet’ in his kitty, the actor has now signed
‘Dabangg’ director Abhinav Kashyap's next. In the film,
Ranbir will be seen playing a character akin to Chulbul
Pandey in ‘Dabangg’. However, getting Ranbir to sign
on the dotted lines had not been easy for the
filmmaker. Abhinav had to change his original plans
considerably to get Ranbir say 'yes' to his project.
“Abhinav had initially wanted to make a film titled
‘Karnaama’ with Ranbir in the lead. That was supposed
to be an adventure film. But later, he decided to put
aside plans of making ‘Karnaama’. At least for the time
being,” said a source. The new project will see Ranbir
playing a tapori. “His character is that of a bold,
upfront, street smart guy. His body language and
talking style will be very Mumbaiyya,” added the
source. The actor will have to attend workshops to
improve his Mumbaikar accent, revealed the source.
The source said Ranbir has already allotted dates for
the film that will go on floors this November. However,
the female lead has not been finalised yet. AGENCIES

generation's collective culture. Each
group the film features brings their own
unique perspective to the forefront, from
an inspired collective of musicians working outside the corporate system to a
twenty-something conservative family
about to welcome the birth of their second child. A group of five high-school
students from the suburbs looking for
their place in society is also profiled.

Never mind that ‘The Hunger Games’ got
the third biggest opening ever along with
several rave reviews, there are some fans
who aren't happy. Racist fans of the book by
Suzanne Collins reportedly took to Twitter
to vent their anger over an African-American girl being cast to play the character of
Rue (played by Amandla Sternberg) in the
film, according to Jezebel. “why does Rue
have to be black,” wrote one fan, whose
Twitter page no longer exists. “Not gonna
lie, kinda ruined the movie.” “Awkward moment when Rue is some black girl and not
the innocent blonde girl you picture,” wrote
another user, whose account has also been
deleted. what's interesting is that the book
actually describes Rue as having 'dark
brown skin'. ‘The Hunger Games’ is the first
of the trilogy written by Suzanne Collins, followed by ‘Catching Fire’ and ‘Mockingjay’.

bollywood gets its
own 'walk of fame'
MUMBAI
AFP

often accused of ripping off plot lines from
Hollywood, it was perhaps only a matter of
time before India's Bollywood launched its
own ‘walk of Fame’ in the style of Los Angeles' iconic boulevard. Indian cinema's
‘walk of the Stars’ was launched wednesday evening on a seaside promenade in the
Bandra district of Mumbai. Like the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles,
Mumbai's new pathway will bear handprints and signatures of numerous actorsalong with a handful of life-size brass
statues depicting some of the industry's
best-known stars. The street will first pay
homage to the Kapoor family. But not all of
Bollywood's biggest names are backing the
project, with a rival walkway, initiated by
actor and architect Ritesh Deshmukh, also
in the works in the same part of the
city.Deshmukh said he has signed up 20
stars for his own path of fame, including
Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan, two
of India's favourite film stars. Deshmukh
plans to call his project 'Legends walk'.

Katrina scores
over Kareena
MUMBAI: director Prakash Jha, it seems, can’t forget the magic that
Rajneeti and Katrina Kaif created for him. The buzz is that
he’s going ahead with Kat for his next film as well,
titled ‘Satyagrah’. So far, the battle for the female
lead was being keenly fought by Kareena
Kapoor and Katrina but now it appears that
Kat has eventually won this round. Sources
say that Prakash will once get her to sport
a de-glam image, similar to that of
‘Rajneeti’. Right now the only hitch in the
project is Kat’s dates but the filmmaker is
working on that too. An insider from Jha
camp says, “The dates really shouldn’t be
much of a problem. Jha and Katrina have
shared such a great working relationship,
that she’s eager to accommodate
‘Satyagrah’ into her busy schedule. She has
tremendous respect for the director, since
he gave her the chance to prove that she
could act too, besides being a glam doll.”
Taking the casting a step further, Jha has
apparently even asked Madhuri dixit-Nene to
be part of the cast. Madhuri had earlier worked
with him in ‘Mrityudand’. The icing on the cake
is that Katrina will be paired opposite favourite
screen hero Akshay Kumar. AGENCIES

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:36 AM Page 16

16 Foreign News

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

N-talks with world powers on April 13: Iran
TehrAN

L

AFP

o N G - S T A L L E D talks between Iran and world powers are to be revived on April
13 at a place yet to be
agreed, Iranian Foreign
Minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced on
wednesday.
“The date has been set, but the negotiations for the venue are still ongoing,” Salehi told AFP.
“Turkey has announced its readiness
to host the talks, and my personal priority is Istanbul,” he added.

The talks carry hopes of defusing a
tense international showdown over
Iran’s nuclear activities that has sent oil
prices soaring.
Israel has brandished the threat of
possible military action against Iran’s
nuclear sites, while the United States
has put its energies into sanctions and
diplomacy but has not ruled out the military option.
Salehi made the announcement of
the date for the talks as he welcomed
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan to Tehran for a two-day visit
focusing on Iran’s nuclear programme
and bilateral ties.

on Erdogan’s arrival, Salehi told the
official IRNA news agency that the next
round of the talks between Iran and the
P5+1 group comprising the United
States, Russia, France, Britain, China
and Germany would take place on April
13.
Speaking to AFP, Salehi said that a
“suggestion” from the P5+1 for a venue
had been received and was being studied, and that the location “will be announced soon.”
Erdogan arrived in Tehran from
South Korea, where he had attended a
nuclear security summit with other
world leaders including US President

Barack obama.
At a media conference with Salehi,
Erdogan dodged a question about
whether he was carrying a message from
obama for Iran’s leaders.
“During a meeting in South Korea,
there were discussions with them (the
P5+1 nations) about the talks taking
place in Turkey, and there were steps in
that regard and now we are waiting for
their response,” he replied instead.
Erdogan also slammed the bellicose
language directed against Iran, saying:
“Military threats against a country that
seeks to master peaceful nuclear technology are not acceptable.”

Salehi likewise did not directly respond to an earlier AFP question about
Erdogan communicating any message
from obama, saying: “So far we’ve only
talked about bilateral issues.”
obama warned in Seoul on Monday
at the start of the nuclear summit that
“time is short” for a diplomatic solution
to the standoff with Iran.
“Iran must act with the seriousness
and sense of urgency that this moment
demands,” he said.
The last round of Iran/P5+1 talks
was held in Istanbul in January 2011
and ended in failure. The round before
that, in late 2010, was in Geneva.

Indonesia jails Islamic
school principal for
terrorism
TANGerANG
AFP

An Indonesian court on wednesday jailed
an Islamic boarding school head for 17
years for possessing more than two dozen
home-made bombs and inciting terrorism.
Abrory M. Ali, who was the head of the
Umar bin Khatab boarding school in west
Nusa Tenggara province, eastern
Indonesia, was arrested in July when some
of his home-made bombs went off
accidently, killing a school employee.
Following the blast, police tried to raid the
school but students attempted to stop them
in a bid to prevent the discovery of the
explosives and firearms. This prompted a
three-day standoff during which the
students, armed with machetes and
swords, barricaded themselves inside. “The
evidence during the trial showed that the
defendant was guilty of having assembled
27 pipe bombs” and of collecting firearms,
chief judge Iman Gultom told Tangerang
district court on Jakarta’s outskirts. “He
also spread deviated teaching about jihad
to his students which caused the loss of
people’s lives,” he added. one of his
students has previously been sentenced to
15 years in jail for killing a police officer
with a sword. Most of Indonesia’s 200
million Muslims are moderates, but the
country has struggled to deal with a radical
fringe of extremists who have carried out
numerous attacks including the 2002 Bali
bombings that killed 202 people.

Islamist elected to
head egypt
constitution panel
CAIro
AFP

Members of a controversial panel tasked
with drafting Egypt’s new constitution on
wednesday elected Muslim Brotherhood
member Saad al-Katatni — currently the
speaker of parliament— to head the
committee. The appointment comes
following a series of withdrawals from the
constituent assembly by liberal, leftist
and independent figures who accuse
Islamists of monopolising the process
that will deliver the post-revolution
charter. writing the constitution requires
“wisdom and political responsibility,
away from partisan gains,” Katatni told
the constituent assembly tasked with
drafting the new constitution, in a session
aired live on television. His election
comes shortly after Egypt’s Supreme
Constitutional court announced it was
withdrawing its representative, Ali Awad
Saleh, from the panel, casting further
doubt over its legitimacy. Since the
formation of the 100-member constituent
assembly on Sunday, nearly two dozen
high profile figures have pulled out, while
a court is set to rule on the panel’s
validity on April 10 after several lawsuits.
The recent debate over the panel “has cast
a heavy cloud of doubt and confusion over
its members, and cast a dark shadow of
(legal) challenges to (its) formation and
procedure,” the Supreme Constitutional
Court’s spokesman, Judge Maher Sami,
told reporters.

MAKASAR: A man takes photographs of a burning police post during a protest against the government’s plan to raise fuel prices on Wednesday. Afp

Tibetan who set self ablaze in Delhi dies
NeW DeLhI
AFP

A Tibetan exile who set himself alight
two days ago in New Delhi died on
wednesday and police detained at least
100 other activists protesting against
Chinese President Hu Jintao’s arrival
in the city.
The Indian capital is home to thousands of Tibetans who have vowed to
use Hu’s visit to focus global attention
on the Chinese government’s alleged
repression in Tibet. Police detained the
demonstrators, many of them female,
at the same venue where protester
Jamphel Yeshi on Monday doused his
clothes in fuel, lit himself and ran
screaming down a road as his body was
engulfed in flames.
Some Tibetan students said police
were not allowing them to leave their
hostels, while Tibetan residential areas
were flooded with security forces ahead
of the summit that President Hu is attending on Thursday. “we are not putting Tibetans under house arrest (but)
they have been instructed not to rally
anywhere inside New Delhi while the
summit is going on,” police spokesman
Rajan Bhagat told AFP.
“Protesters are being put into
buses and removed because they have
not had permission. There is also heavy
deployment in places where Tibetans
stay,” he added. Yeshi, who was the first
self-immolation victim outside China
since a spate of similar protests inside
the country began last March, was declared dead at Delhi’s Ram Manohar
Lohia hospital on wednesday morning.
“His heart stopped working, every-

NEW dELhI: A Tibetan activist is detained by Indian police during a protest on
Wednesday. aFp
thing stopped working. He had 98 percent burns,” L.K. Makhija, the head of
the burns department, told AFP.
“Normally people with 98 percent
burns do not survive. The body has
been sent for a post-mortem.”
Since early 2011, at least 29 Tibetans, many of them Buddhist monks
and nuns, are reported to have set
themselves on fire in Tibetan-inhabited
areas of China to protest against Chinese rule.
President Hu landed in Delhi on
wednesday to attend the meeting of
the BRICS group of developing nations,

consisting of Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa.
“I have been locked up in my hostel
with 150 other students since yesterday,” Paldin Sonam, 24, a Tibetan activist and student at Delhi University,
told AFP.
“The police said they were worried
that we would try to do the same as the
man who set himself alight. They were
concerned about a law and order problem developing. we can’t leave.” Three
protesters were also held by police outside the oberoi hotel, where President
Hu is reportedly staying.

US man gets ‘most
extensive’ face
transplant ever
WASHINGTON: A US man who lost his
lips, nose and teeth in a 1997 gun accident
has received the most extensive face
transplant to date, according to doctors at
the University of Maryland Medical
Center. Richard Lee Norris, 37, had
undergone several life-saving and
reconstructive surgeries after the accident
but had limited use of his mouth and,
before the surgery, appeared as though his
lower face and nose had been mashed in.
In a 36-hour operation on March 19-20,
doctors at the US medical center carried
out “the most extensive full face
transplant completed to date, including
both jaws, teeth, and tongue,” the center
said. “The transplant included all facial
soft tissue from the scalp to the neck,
including the underlying muscles to enable
facial expression, and sensory and motor
nerves to restore feeling and function,”
chief plastic surgeon Eduardo Rodriguez
said in a statement. “our goal is to restore
function as well as have aesthetically
pleasing results,” he added. Norris had
spent the past 15 years living as a recluse,
wearing a surgical mask and only shopping
at night in order to avoid the staring of
others, according to a report by MSNBC.
The world’s first full face transplant took
place in Spain, with doctors at Vall
d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona showing
off their work in July 2010. The first
successful partial face transplant was
performed in France in 2005 on Isabelle
Dinoire, a 38-year-old woman who had
been mauled by her dog. AFP

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:36 AM Page 17

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

Foreign News 17

School targeted by
french gunman receives
anti-Semitic mail
ToULoUSe
AFP

The French Jewish school where three
children and a teacher were murdered this
month has received a wave of anti-Semitic
hate mail and calls, the local prosecutor
said wednesday. Michel Valet said he had
received a complaint from the school and
had ordered a police investigation to
discover the “origin of these calls and
letters and the identities of those behind
them.” The ozar Hatorah school was at the
centre of a national drama on March 19,
when self-declared Al-Qaeda operative
Mohamed Merah pulled up on his scooter
and attacked a crowd of pupils and parents
waiting for class. After killing a 30-year-old
religious studies teacher and his two sons
aged four and five, the 23-year-old Islamic
extremist pursued a seven-year-old girl
onto the grounds, grabbing her and
shooting her through the head. The local
head of a Jewish representative group,
Marc Sztulman, said the school’s email
system had filled up with messages “calling
for the murder of Jews or drawing a vague
link with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
on Monday, a 12-year-old Jewish boy was
beaten but not badly hurt by three
unidentified teenagers in an anti-Semitic
attack outside another school in the ozar
Hatorah group, this time in Paris,
according to police.

Strauss-Kahn called
women ‘equipment’
in text messages
LILLe
AFP

Disgraced former IMF chief Dominique
Strauss-Kahn admitted to police that he
referred to young women guests at sex parties
as “equipment” in text messages, according to
a report wednesday. The respected daily Le
Monde said it had seen a confidential
transcript of Strauss-Kahn’s police
questioning from before he was charged with
“aggravated pimping”, in which he confirmed
he had used the “inappropriate” language.
Strauss-Kahn’s legal team reacted with fury to
the leak, accusing Le Monde of quoting
selectively from the document and declaring
they would lodge a legal complaint with
authorities alleging their client’s rights had
been violated. Strauss-Kahn admits he
attended a string of orgies in various cities, but
insists he had no idea that many of the female
guests were paid to attend, telling police in the
reported interview that he may have been
“naive”. Prosecutors, however, believe that he
knew the women had been procured and paid
for by executives who corruptly charged the
parties to company expenses. on Monday
they charged Strauss-Kahn with complicity in
a vice ring. “Do you want to (can you?) come
to a great sexy nightclub in Madrid with me
(and some equipment) on July 4?” StraussKahn once asked, in a text message to a
businessman friend who has also been
charged in the same case. In another message
he referred to a “gift” and in another to
“luggage”. According to Le Monde’s account of
his recent interrogation, Strauss-Kahn
admitted he had used what he now admits
were “unsuitable and inappropriate” terms to
refer to “a person of the female sex”.

JERUSALEM: Western Wall employees remove messages and prayers, written on pieces of paper by thousands of people addressed to God, from the cracks of the Jewish holiest site
in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday. aFp

AMASCUS will reject any
initiative stemming from
this week’s Arab League
summit to end the yearlong crisis in Syria, a foreign ministry spokesman said on
wednesday.
“Syria will not cooperate with any
Arab League initiative at any level,”
spokesman Jihad Makdissi said in a
statement to AFP.
“Since its suspension from the Arab
League, Syria has been dealing with
member states on a bilateral level,” he
added.
The 22-member pan-Arab body in
November voted at an extraordinary
meeting to suspend Syria until President Bashar al-Assad implements an
Arab deal to end a crackdown on a revolt which, according to UN figures, has
left more than 9,000 people dead since
March of last year.
Arab foreign ministers were meeting
in Baghdad on wednesday, on the eve of
the landmark summit, to debate a draft

resolution calling on Damascus to end
the violence and hold talks with the opposition.
Makdissi in his statement made no
reference to UN-Arab League envoy Kofi
Annan’s six-point peace plan, which
Annan’s camp said had been accepted
by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-Moon has urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to “immediately”
implement the UN six-point plan to stop
bloodshed in Syria.
“I urge President al-Assad to put
commitments into immediate effect.
There is no time to waste,” Ban told a
news conference in Kuwait.
Ban expressed concern at the continued bloodshed in Syria but welcomed
the Damascus regimes’ acceptance of
the six-point plan put forward by the
UN and Arab League special envoy Kofi
Annan.
“This is an important initial step
that could bring an end to the bloodshed
and violence,” he said.
Ban said that he will “meet key
(Arab) leaders in Baghdad to discuss
how the UN and Arab League states can

work together in helping the joint special envoy’s diplomatic efforts to get the
six-point proposal implemented.”
Annan said on Tuesday that the government of Assad had accepted his plan,
a move cautiously welcomed by western
nations.
Syrian forces backed by tanks
stormed the central town of Qalaat alMadiq and nearby villages on wednesday after a siege lasting more than two
weeks, the Syrian observatory for
Human Rights said.
The army also attempted to storm
other rebel positions in various regions
across the country, including in northwest Idlib, in central Homs and in the
southern province of Daraa, the Britainbased monitoring group.
It said troops entered the town of
Qalaat al-Madiq, in Hama province, just
after dawn following a 17-day barrage of
shelling and heavy gunfire to root out
rebels. The army, however, was not in
full control of the town.
“Heavy clashes between regime
forces and armed rebels are preventing
the army from advancing,” the observatory said. “Intense gunfire and explo-

sions can be heard in nearby villages.”
Abu Ghazi, a local activist reached
by Skype, told AFP in Beirut that members of the rebel Free Syrian Army had
withdrawn from the area because of the
regular army’s superior firepower.
“The rebels were engaged in hitand-run operations and were trying to
protect the local population and delay
the storming of the town,” he said.
Qalaat al-Madiq is home to a historic castle that was shelled during the
fighting, as seen in videos posted on
YouTube.
Fierce clashes were also reported on
wednesday in the province of Daraa,
cradle of the year-long revolt that has
left more than 9,000 people dead according to the United Nations.
In central Homs province, three soldiers were killed and 16 others were
wounded in fighting with rebels in the
town of Rastan, it added.
“Heavy clashes took place at the entrance of the town which the army tried
to storm at dawn,” the observatory said.
one person was killed by sniper fire
in another neighbourhood of the city,
the observatory said.

Mali divided over junta as world pushes for end to coup
BAMAKo
AFP

Thousands marched on wednesday in
support of Mali’s coup leaders, who
sought to quell fears they plan to cling
to power by promising democracy and
ruling out taking part in elections.
The international community has
shunned the regime which took over
after a mutiny a week ago turned into
a full-blown putsch as soldiers seized
government buildings and chased out
President Amadou Toumani Toure.
The mutineers — who say they re-

belled because they are angered by the
government’s mishandling of a northern Tuareg rebellion — suspended
elections planned for April 29 and have
not named a new poll date. UN human
rights chief Navi Pillay urged Mali to
follow the lead of neighbouring Senegal, which just wrapped up a peaceful
transfer of power, and to hold free, fair
and transparent elections.
“Mali also had a good record of
democratic elections over the past two
decades, and I hope it gets back on that
track as soon as possible,” said Pillay.
The Economic Community of west

African States (ECowAS) on Tuesday
suspended Mali “until its return to
constitutional order”, following in the
footsteps of the African Union which
has also shut out the junta. Regional
strongman Blaise Compaore, president
of Burkina Faso, has been tasked by
ECowAS with leading a mediation
team of six heads of state to Bamako
which is expected to arrive Thursday.
As a former soldier who himself
ousted a president, Compaore is likely
to understand the frustration by the
soldiers who revolted, tired of fighting
a losing battle against the Tuareg

desert nomads, analysts say.
west African leaders warned that
the region’s troops were on standby if
the junta failed to engage in dialogue.
Mali’s rebel soldiers — from an
army poorly-equipped to battle an insurrection by heavily-armed, battlehardened Tuareg recently returned
from Libya — have called on the desert
warriors to join peace talks.
However the Tuareg, waging their
decades-old battle for independence,
have remained mum and are pushing
forward with their offensive. Fighting
since mid-January has forced over

200,000 to flee their homes.
while Mali has been hailed as a
successful democracy, simmering discontent over the government’s handling of the north — also torn by drug
and arms trafficking and kidnappings
of westerners — has seen the junta win
favour among some Malians.
Several thousand people marched
in Bamako brandishing banners reading “Down with ATT (Toure)”, “Down
with France”, and “Down with the international community”, while shouting “Sanogo solution” in support of
coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo.

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:37 AM Page 18

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

Djokovic, nadal win,
wozniacki halts Serena
Page 20

MCC mull Afghanistan
tour but not Pakistan
LoNDoN

M

AFP

ARYLEBoNE Cricket
Club (MCC) are contemplating a tour of
Afghanistan, the club's
president
said
on
wednesday, indicating that a visit to the
war-torn nation was more likely than a
trip to neighbouring Pakistan.
MCC, which owns Lord's Cricket
Ground, known globally as the "home of
cricket", has played its part in supporting Afghan cricket by helping provide
pitches in the capital Kabul, organising
fixtures against the national side and
coaching players.
Touring teams from the club, which

ross Taylor was ready
to bat with broken hand
WELLINGTON: Ross
Taylor, the New
Zealand captain, has said
he would have
come out to bat
despite a broken arm to help
save the third
Test against
South Africa in
wellington.
Taylor had to retire hurt on the fourth
day after he was hit by a short ball from
Morne Morkel and had surgery on the
fifth. He was not needed in the end, as
New Zealand hung on for a draw at Basin
Reserve six wickets down.
"I was hoping not to [bat]", Taylor said a
day after the Test. "I was back at the
hotel with about 10 overs to go and then
I got the phone call to ask whether I
could bat. I thought you don't often get
to save a Test match, so I drove down. In
the wellington traffic it took me about
five overs to get there, but the boys were
looking pretty solid so I didn't have to
don the whites.''ESPNCRICINFO

used to run English cricket but still retains worldwide responsibility for the
sport's Laws or rules, usually comprise
former professional cricketers alongside
promising club players.
"I am going to Afghanistan to look at
Kabul and the cricket pitches we have
put in," MCC president Phillip Hodson
told BBC radio's Test Match Special programme on wednesday. "Then I will go
to Lahore as a private citizen.
"I think there is much more chance
of taking a team to Afghanistan than
there is to Pakistan. I think we could do
something in Afghanistan and I don't
think it will be long away."
Afghanistan is an emerging country
in cricket terms and its national team
has made dramatic progress in recent

years, going from the equivalent of a
standing start to competing alongside
the sport's leading teams.
This month Afghanistan again qualified for the 2012 world Twenty20 in Sri
Lanka, having competed in the 2010 edition in the west Indies.
Many Afghan players learnt how to
play the game as refugees in Pakistan,
after fleeing decades of violence, first
during the armed insurrection against
the Russian occupation, then during the
brutal regime of the hardline Taliban.
Pakistan is a fully-fledged Test nation but the country has been a "no-go
area" for major international cricket
since an armed terror attack on the Sri
Lanka team bus during a Test match in
Lahore in March 2009.

Pakistan now play their "home" fixtures in the United Arab Emirates.
Further details of touring plans
may emerge after the MCC's annual
general meeting in May but any trip
will come against a backdrop of continued attacks against British troops
serving as part of the US-led NATo
force in Afghanistan.
Two British soldiers were killed in
southern
Afghanistan's
Helmand
province by an Afghan lieutenant on
Monday.
Concern is growing about so-called
green on blue attacks with 16 NATo
troops killed by their Afghan colleagues
since January -- more than one in six of
the 91 foreign soldiers to have died in
Afghanistan so far this year.

No pakistani players for Bpl
LAhore
STAFF REPORT

Pakistan will not allow their players to
feature in Bangladesh Premier League
(BPL) second season if the country's
cricket board decides against sending
its national team here for a muchawaited series, 'our Sources' learnt
through well-placed sources.
According to the reports quoting
sources, Pakistan's cricket chiefs are extremely unhappy over Bangladesh
Cricket Board's reluctance to send its
team to Pakistan for a limitedovers series that is expected to the
pave the path for the return of international cricket in the country.
“Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will
block its players' participation in the
second edition of BPL in case the
Bangladeshis decide against sending
there team to Pakistan,” said a
source.
Pakistani cricket stars including
their former captain Shahid Afridi were
the single biggest reason why the inaugural edition of BPL which concluded
on February 29 turned out to be a
highly successful event. over 20 Pak-

Aussie captain
clarke to make
IPL debut

istani cricketers featured in the BPL, a
Twenty20 league that was Bangladesh's
version of the lucrative Indian Premier
League.
while top Pakistani cricketers like
Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed
Ajmal just played in the final games of
the event because of their series against
England in the UAE, many of their
other compatriots including fast bowler
Mohammad Sami and opener Nasir

Jamshed finished among
BPL's biggest success stories.
BPL teams have roped in Pakistani
cricketers for long-term stints but PCB
can bar them from playing in the
league.“PCB believes that it has done
everything possible for the smooth

hosting of a home series against
Bangladesh which is why it won't take
any decision against the visit lightly,”
said the source.
“A negative call on the issue by
Bangladesh is bound to strain cricketing
relations between the two countries and
the biggest loser could be the BPL,” he
added. Pakistan are desperate to host
Bangladesh for a limited-overs series in
Lahore and Karachi next month in its
bid to revive international cricket in the
country. Pakistan have not hosted international teams since March 2009
when Sri Lankan cricketers were
ambushed by terrorists in Lahore
killing six policeman and a van
driver. Several Sri Lankan players
and one of their coaches were injured in the attack.
A Bangladeshi delegation visited
Pakistan earlier this month to review
security arrangements for the proposed
series. Mustafa Kamal — president of
Bangladesh Cricket Board — who led
the delegation, told senior PCB officials
that he was satisfied with the security
arrangements. However, BCB has said
that a final decision on the tour hinges
on its government clearance.

NeW DeLhI
AFP

Australia captain Michael Clarke will
make his Indian Premier League (IPL)
debut this season after being signed by
Pune warriors, the franchise announced
on wednesday.
"we are thrilled to have Michael Clarke
on board. The reigning Australian skipper is one of the world's best cricketers,"
the franchise said in a statement.
"His presence in the side, and cricketing
proficiency, will boost the prospects of
Pune warriors India in the IPL 2012."
The Australian skipper, 30, had previously resisted the lure of playing in the
Twenty20 tournament. He came close in
2009 before withdrawing from the IPL
auction to focus on playing for Australia.
"Clarke was exceptional in the recent
Test series against India, as batsman and
captain," said IPL chairman Rajeev
Shukla.
"He is a very popular cricketer in India
and followers of the sport are eagerly
looking forward to his participation in
the IPL."
The Australian players will miss the first
three weeks of the IPL because of an upcoming Test series in the west Indies,
but will be available for the final month
of May.
The fifth edition of the IPL will be played
from April 4 to May 27.

england set out on historic chase
GALLe
AFP

England recovered from two crucial blows
to stay afloat in their tough run chase to win
the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka in
Galle on wednesday.
The tourists, set a history-defying target
of 340, reached 111 for two by stumps on the
third day on a dry pitch that has made batting progressively difficult.
The world number one Test side lost
openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook
cheaply, before Jonathan Trott and Kevin
Pietersen repaired the damage by adding 63
for the unbroken third wicket. Trott was unbeaten on 40 and Pietersen was on 29, with
England still needing 229 runs with eight
wickets in hand to win the Test and take the
lead in the two-match series.
England, who will slip to number two
behind South Africa if they lose the series,
have never chased down such a big fourthinnings target before in their Test history.
Their highest successful chase is 332-7
against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket
Ground way back in 1928. In Asia, it is 2091 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in March,
2010. England's task has been made tougher
since 253 is the highest fourth-innings total
made at the Galle International Stadium.

England off-spinner Graeme Swann,
who claimed six wickets in Sri Lanka's second inings total of 214, dismissed suggestions that history was not on his team's side.
"History is meant to be re-written," said
Swann. "This is 2012. It does not matter
what happened years ago. "I would say we
are the favourites. we just need a bit of old
fashioned grit to win from here. Keep out the
good balls and wait for the loose ones.
"It's a good pitch to bowl on, its also a
good pitch to bat on. If people apply themselves and put their heads down, they will be
hard to dismiss." Cook, who scored 14, was
given out caught at the wicket off Rangana
Herath through the Decision Review System
after on-field umpire Rod Tucker had
negated the appeal.
Herath, whose left-arm spin fetched
him six wickets in the first innings, dismissed Strauss for 27 when the England
captain failed to keep an on-drive down and
was caught at short mid-wicket. Pietersen
was lucky to be still there at stumps after
being dropped by Kumar Sangakkara at
backward short-leg off Suraj Randiv when
he was on 12. The hosts had been reduced to
127-8 just before lunch, a lead of 252 runs,
when wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene
stepped in to hit an unbeaten 61 in the company of tailenders.

gALLe: england cricketers Kevin Pietersen (r) and Jonathan Trott (L) run between the wickets
during the third day of the opening Test against Sri Lanka at the galle International Stadium. Afp

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:37 AM Page 19

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

sports 19

Australia coast to victory in first T20
GroS ISLeT

V

AFP

ETERANS Shane watson
and Michael Hussey eased
Australia to victory in the
first Twenty20 international with hosts west Indies here on Tuesday.
Both watson and Hussey hit half centuries with the former - who stood in as
skipper for injured captain Michael
Clarke during the one day series but
stepped down for this format - scoring
69.
Hussey was unbeaten on 59 as the
tourists coasted to victory with 11 balls remaining thanks to a fine century partnership by him and watson after opener
David warner was out for a duck.
After electing to bat, the west Indies
had made 150-7 in the first of the twomatch series against Australia at Beausejour Cricket Ground.
The modest total owed much to a
swashbuckling 26-ball knock of 54 from
Kieron Pollard that featured two fours
and five sixes -- four of those coming off
consecutive balls in the 16th and 17th
overs -- and off 20 balls was the fastest
half century by a west Indian batsman in
this format.
He beat former west Indies captain
Chris Gayle's half century off 23 balls
against Australia in 2009.
Daniel Christian was the tourists'
most effective bowler, taking three wickets for 27 runs.
west Indies skipper Darren Sammy
had hit a blistering 84 in the final match
of the one-day series two days ago, but he
fell for just seven, misjudging a heave
down the ground off Brett Lee that was
easily caught by David Hussey.
Australia prevailed by 30 runs in the
final one-day international to level the
five-match series at 2-2.
Christian came into the Twenty20

14th national veteran
Senior cup in progress
LAhore
STAFF REPORT

The 14th National Seniors Cup is being
played all over Pakistan for the last 13 consecutive years and a total of 82 teams are
participating in this Tournament .The
Northern Zone matches comprising Punjab,
Khyber Pakhtoon Khawan, Islamabad and
FATA. The Southern Zone is divided into
three groups. Group A Consist of 4 Teams
(Karachi Asim, Karachi omar, Karachi
Amjad and Karachi CDC), Group B Consist
of 3 Teams (Hyderabad, Jamshoro and
Sanghar) and Group C Consists of 3 Teams
(Sukkur, Shikarpur and Khairpur).
The 14th National Seniors Cup matches for
the Southern Zone started with the opening
match played between Karachi omar and
Karachi Asimat TMC Cricket Ground Gulberg on Saturday afternoon. Two Matches
are decided in this Tournament from the
Southern Zone in which Karachi omar defeated Karachi Asim by 6 wickets and
Karachi C.D.C. defeated Karachi Amjad by 9
wickets at TMC Cricket Ground Gulberg. At
the Inaugural match played on Saturday afternoon at TMC Cricket Ground Karachi
Asim batted first scored 167 runs in allotted
25 overs, Mehmood Hamid scored 56 runs
and Sajid Ali scored 27 runs, Saifullah
Magsi of Karachi omar took 3 wickets for
24 runs and Nadeem sheikh took 2 wickets
26 runs.
Karachi omar achieved the required target
by losing only 4 wickets, Qamar Ibrahim
scored 48 runs, Irfan Ali scored 42 runs and
Nadeem Sheikh scored 33 runs, Mehmood
Hamid of Karachi Asim took 2 wickets 40
runs. Qamar Ibrahim of Karachi omar was
declared Man of the Match for his fine performance in the match. In another match
played on Sunday afternoon at TMC Cricket
Ground, Karachi Amjad won the toss and
batted first scored 161 runs in allotted 25
overs, Azeem Ahmed scored 51 runs and
Ramzani scored 23 runs, Fareeduddin of
Karachi CDC took 3 wickets 21 runs and
Habib took 3 for 26 runs. The required target was achieved by Karachi CDC in the 21st
over by losing only one wicket, Sardar
scored 83 runs and Aslam scored 50 runs,
Ali Akber was the only wicket taker for 41
runs. Sardar of Karachi CDC who scored 83
runs was declared Man of the Match.

team alongside James Pattinson, with
George Bailey taking over the captaincy
for the shortest format from watson.
The west Indies were without Andre
Russell, who was ruled out after battling
a hamstring injury during the one-day series.
It is the first time the west Indies
have played a T20 international for five
months and for both sides the main concern is to get in some crucial practice
ahead of the world Twenty20 in Sri
Lanka in September.
The second Twenty20 match is in
Bridgetown on Friday.

groS ISLeT: west Indies captain Darren Sammy reacts after failing to field a ball during the T20 match against Australia at the Beausejour ground. Afp

pU 65th Annual Girls
Athletics begins
LAhore
STAFF REPORT

Punjab University 65th Annual Girls Athletics Championship began here on
wednesday at the University ground.
Professor Dr. Ahsan Malik who is
President of Punjab University Teaching
Department was the chief guest of the
opening ceremony and declared the athletics meet open.
Ms. Sobia Sultna (Best Athlete of
Inter University Championship 2011-12)
took oath on behalf of all the participating athletes. In the second half of the day,
Dr Mansoor Sarwar Director Sports of
Punjab University joined the athletic
meet and appreciated the athletes and
the participating teams.
OPENING DAy RESULTS: 400 Meters Hurdles: Attiya Sultana, Shibli College of Commerce for women
Faisalabad; Sumaira Parveen, ,Punjab
University Teaching Department; Lubna
Younas, Shibli College of Commerce for

LAHore: girl students take part in
the 800 metres race during the
65th Annual girls Athletics
championship. StAff photo

The Elections for the post of President
and Secretary RCA Multan scheduled for
April 4 at Multan Cricket Stadium are
postponed.
The Elections will now be held on April
14 at Multan Cricket Stadium. The interested/desirous candidates are requested
to submit the duly filled nomination
forms along with bank draft amounting
to Rs 10,000 each in favour of Pakistan
Cricket Board by April 6 positively.
Schedule of Elections â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Regional Cricket
Association (RCA) Multan Briefing, filing
& hearing of objections (if any) against
the candidates of Regional Cricket Association (RCA) Multan on April 14 and
will be followed by the elections of Regional Cricket Association (RCA) Multan.

KHI 29-03-2012_Layout 1 3/29/2012 3:37 AM Page 20

20 sports

Thursday, 29 March, 2012

raja earns
guard group
win in April cup
LAhore
STAFF REPORT

Raja Samiullah brought Guard Group to
a fighting win over Newage in the April
Cup Polo here at the LPC ground on
wednesday.
Facing tough fight from Shah Shamyl
Alam, Raja Samiullah hit three goals in
Guard Group’s 5-4 win over Newage.
Samiullah got Guard Group three goals
lead but with the help of Shamyl,
Newage cam close to the score when his
passes made Abdul Rehman Monnoo
and Adnan Jalil Azam hit one goal each.
But Taimur Ali Malik with his two goals
took the match for the time being away
from Newage reach. Shamyl again cam
into action and produced the third goal
of his team and later Taimur Mawaz
Khan converted the fourth goal but the
final hooter kept Newage hope at bay.

world No. 3 Lee westwood has taken
his Masters preparation to the US PGA
Houston open this week with hopes of
pulling off his first major triumph next
week at Augusta National.
The 38-year-old Englishman has finished in the top three at five of the past
10 major championships, including runner-up in both the Masters and British
open in 2010 and joint-third at the 2011
US open and the 2009 British open and
PGA. "I think it proves I'm capable of
winning major championships," westwood said on Tuesday. "Lot of Top-3s
and just have to keep doing that and put
myself in position -- when I get the
chance, take it the next time."
Instead of hanging his head over nearmisses, westwood has taken confidence
from coming so close.
"It makes me look forward to major
championships a lot more than I used
to," westwood said. "I think my game is
better equipped to tackle major championship golf courses."
A reason for that is sharpening his skills
in the week before a major rather than
resting or playing practice rounds.
"I like to be competitive the week before
the Masters," westwood said. "It's a
tough test at Augusta. If you don't go
into it competitively sharp, you are not
going to hit all the greens, going to have
to get up and down.

LAHore: guard group and newage riders in
action during the April cup Polo. NAdeeM ijAZ

Djokovic wins, Wozniacki halts Serena

N

MIAMI
AFP

oVAK Djokovic and Rafael
Nadal stayed on pace for a
possible final showdown
while Maria Sharapova and
Caroline wozniacki booked
a last-four match-up at the Miami ATP and
wTA event Tuesday. Top-ranked defending champion Novak Djokovic, winner of
the past three Grand Slam singles crowns,
reached the quarter-finals of the $9.6 million hardcourt tournament with a 7-5, 6-3
victory over French 17th seed Richard Gasquet. The Serbian top seed will next face
Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer, who defeated Argentina's 11th-seeded Juan Martin
Del Potro 6-3, 6-3.
"It's going to be very difficult. But I'm
ready," Djokovic said. "I'm fresh physically,
fit. Mentally I'm always there. I have a day
off tomorrow, which gives me enough time
to prepare for the next challenge."
world No. 2 Nadal, a three-time Miami
runner-up who has never lifted the trophy,
ousted Japanese 16th seed Kei Nishikori 64, 6-4. Up next is French sixth seed Jo-wilfried Tsonga, who ousted German Florian
Mayer 6-3, 6-2.
The Spaniard fired eight aces and won
65 percent of first-serve points while saving
six of the eight break points he faced to advance in two hours and 11 minutes, improving to 16-3 on the season.
"The beginning was very tough," Nadal
said. "I started playing more aggressively.
At the end of the first set, I felt that I started
to win my serves easier than him. I believe
that I had more the control of the game.
"In the second set I started well. At 53, I didn't play my best game there and he
broke me. Happy to have the break back
later and finally win the match." on the
women's side, second seed Sharapova advanced with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Chinese
eighth seed Li Na, the Russian snapping a
four-match losing streak to the Asian star.
"I came into this match losing to her
the last few times," Sharapova said. "I really

Key BIScAyne: novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against richard
gasquet of france at crandon Park Tennis center. Afp
wanted to change that."
Danish fourth seed wozniacki ended
the comeback run of US 10th seed Serena
williams 6-4, 6-4. wozniacki had lost all
three prior meetings with the 13-time
Grand Slam champion.
"It was important for me, definitely,"
wozniacki said. "Serena has won so many
Grand Slams and so many tournaments,
something I would love to achieve one day.
So to beat someone like her that I know that
never gives up is definitely something that
means a lot to me."
williams had been sidelined from wTA
events since the Australian open due to an
ankle injury.
"She definitely served the best she
served in her career," williams said. "She

Key BIScAyne: caroline wozniacki celebrates a point against Serena
williams during the Sony ericsson open. Afp

moved well and I just made too many errors. I felt a bit off. I probably played about
20 percent."
The frustration had williams wanting
to smash a racquet but she thought better
of it, saying, "I thought about it, but I'm trying to be better now."
Sharapova, like Nadal a three-time
Miami runner-up who has never won the
crown, has a 3-2 record against wozniacki.
"It's the semifinals, a tough stage and a
tough opponent," Sharapova said. "Caroline has been one of the most consistent
players on the tour for many reasons."
Sharapova's match began with five
consecutive service breaks, but she found
her form at 4-3, winning the last eight
games of the match and 12 points in a row

Ian Blackwell scored the maiden firstclass hundred of the new English cricket
season as he made 102 not out for MCC
in the Champion County clash against
Lancashire in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
This fixture, the traditional curtainraiser to an English cricket campaign
was, historically, played at Lord's, the
London home ground of Marylebone
Cricket Club (MCC), but in recent seasons it has been switched to the United
Arab Emirates as part of the club's tieup with the gulf state.
MCC, whose captain Mark Ramprakash
won the toss and batted on the opening
day of this four-day fixture, were in
trouble at 74 for four before Durham allrounder Blackwell's unbeaten hundred
helped them to a first innings total of
265 all out. No other MCC batsman
made more than Moen Ali's 33, with
Lancashire left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan taking four wickets for 65 runs in
18 overs. At stumps, Lancashire were 38
for two. Pakistan's Rana Naved had Paul
Horton caught behind by Ireland
wicket-keeper Niall o'Brien before leftarm spinner Blackwell, whose century
featured 16 fours, then capped a fine day
by having Stephen Moore lbw in his first
over. "we lost four quick wickets so to
get 260 odd was a good effort," said the
33-year-old Blackwell, whose lone Test
appearance for England was against
India in Nagpur six years ago.
"Lancashire bowled pretty well in the
twilight period as well, taking a few
quick wickets after tea, but hopefully we
can get a lead going into the second innings tomorrow (wednesday) -- if we do
that we should be happy.
"If we can remove Gary Keedy -- the
nightwatchman -- early, we'll be pleased
but it could be a tough first session in 37
degree heat so we've got to dig in."

STAFF REPORT

ITCHERS
Ihsanullah’s
heroics helped Pakistan
clinch the 10th west Asia
Baseball Cup, after chalking-up 4-1 win against Sri
Lanka in the last league match at the
Punjab Stadium here on wednesday.
The crucial match, which was dominated by pitchers, Ihsanullah-led Pakistan in all the nine innings to solely
perform the duty successfully as he conceded just one run to make the victory
possible. The batters also did good efforts as they managed to score four runs,
despite the fact the Sri Lankans were
tough in both pitching and fielding.
However, the main credit of the
Pakistan’s win went to Ihsanullah who
made the difference. Ihsanullah, who
has imparted two months training in
South Korea on scholarship sent down
lethal deliveries as Sri Lankan batters
remained on defensive. There was no
run scored in the first innings by either
side. But Pakistan opened the account

in the second innings when Farooq
Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed collected one
run each to take 2-0 lead for the team.
In the third innings, Pakistan earned
one more run through Arslan as it
seemed at that moment, the Pakistani
batters would get runs frequently in
the next innings.
But tight pitching by both the
sides, did not allow any team to score
run in the next two innings. However,
the visitors got their first run in the 6th
innings through Peries to reduce the
lead 3-1. Again there was no run scored
in the 7th innings, as Pakistan plundered its last run in the 8th innings
through Asif Mushtaq to seal the fate of
the match.
Pakistan remained unbeaten in the
event thus it has qualified for the main
round of the Asia Cup to be held later
this year. Besides Pakistan and Sri
Lanka, two other countries which participated were Iran and Afghanistan.
Iran came third while Afghanistan remained at bottom.
Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly
Rana Mashood was the chief guest and

he distributed the prizes. He said the
foreign teams must have enjoyed their
stay in Pakistan. He said Pakistan was
a safest country and its people wanted
more international activities hereand
also announced Five Lac for Pakistan
Team on behalf of Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shabaz Sharif , Mr.Yoo Daewoo Bus Express distribute the Silver
Medals to SriLanka Team .D G sports
Mr Usman Anwar , Khawar Shah Secretary General PFB,Mohsin Khan Vice
President PFB, wasal Mohmmad Associate Secretary, Haider Khan Lahri
Associate Secretary ,Fakhar Shah,
Jamil Kamran Amer Bhatti of Federation Baseball were present.
President Pakistan Federation
Baseball Shaukat Javed praised the efforts of the Pakistan team for earning
the top position in the event he also announced award of Rupees Five Lac for
team . He thanked all the foreign
teams for visiting Pakistan and hoped
they had enjoyed their stay here. He
said Pakistan had gained good standing in the baseball in Asia and currently it was at the 5th place.

haney book, tiger videogame hit stores
NeW YorK
AFP

A new tell-all book by former Tiger
woods swing coach Hank Haney arrived
in stores on Tuesday, the same day the
golf star's new videogame hit the shelves
as well. The well-timed product releases
come two days after woods ended a 2 1/2year win drought in PGA Tour-sanctioned
events with victory at Bay Hill in the
Arnold Palmer Invitational.
It doesn't hurt sales interest that the
year's first major championship, the Masters will be played next week at Augusta
National Golf Club and that woods will be

a favourite as a result of his triumph.
woods, a 14-time major champion, is
chasing the record 18 major titles won by
Jack Nicklaus. He has not won a major
title since the 2008 US open.
Haney's book, "The Big Miss: My
Years Coaching Tiger woods", and the intimate and at times unflattering picture it
draws of woods drew tight-lipped brief
answers from the golfer when asked
about it at events earlier this month.
woods offers "Tiger woods PGA
Tour 13 -- Duel of the Masters" for Xbox
360 and PlayStation 3. A new television
commercial features woods and retired
NBA star Shaquille o'Neal using the Xbox

360 Kinect motion sensor to make
swings. woods had the strongest opening
sales for any of his video games last year
when Augusta National Golf Club allowed
its course to be measured and portrayed
in a video game -- an unprecedented
move for the famed pine-tree-laden layout. while victory was likely the best sales
pitch woods could offer, Haney made an
appearance on CBS television on Tuesday, saying his revelations violated no
ethical code regarding athletes and
coaches and their relationship. "The thing
about this so called unwritten code, I
mean, there is no code. It's not a doctorpatient relationship," Haney said on CBS.

The Pakistan Tennis Federation on
wednesday received another blow to its
Davis Cup semi-final bid against the
Phillpines when the country’s top star
Aisam-ul-Haq pulled out of the tie following a knee injury
However, his first cousin Samir Iftikhar
has made himself available for the tie
but the federation is in no mood of taking this youngster in the Pakistan’s
Davis Cup team and has, as the reports
suggested, asked Jalil Khan to present
passport to the federation.
Samir Iftikhar, who is on an Athletic
Scholarship at University of New Mexico
and is for the last one year playing the
highly competitive tennis, the NCAA Division-I Circuit in USA, has offered his
services to Pakistan.
Former Davis Cupper Tayyab Iftikhar
has informed the PTF through a written
letter in this regard.

china's Liu still
dogged by injury
SHANGHAI: China's star hurdler Liu
Xiang is still struggling with an injury
that ended his quest to win a gold at the
2008 Beijing olympics, state media reported wednesday, quoting his coach.
The 28-year-old Chinese athletics star
was a shock olympic champion in the
high hurdles at the 2004 Athens Games
and remains history's second fastest
man in the event.
"Liu's physical condition is good and
stable right now, although the Achilles'
(tendon) injury still poses a problem
and plays up when the training is very
intense," coach Sun Haiping was quoted
as saying by the China Daily.
"But the whole team has done an excellent job of controlling his old injury and
avoiding new wounds," he said.
Sun added Liu was focusing on outdoor training ahead of the olympics in
London, which starts in four months.
During the 2008 Games in Beijing,
he pulled up injured in the 110m
hurdles in front of an expectant
home crowd. AFP

Australia grants Rs 1.5 million to pff
ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT

The Australian Government has yet
again allocated the Pakistan Football
Federation (PFF) a grant of Rs 1.5 million (Aus $ 17,000) as part of Australian
Sports outreach Program (ASoP).
This announcement was made by
Deputy High Commissioner Paul Molley
at a joint press conference along with Lt.
Col. ® Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi, TI (M),
General Secretary PFF, at Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad on wednesday. It is the
second year in a row that Australia has
provided a sport grant to the PFF.
Paul Molley said that the funding
will go towards the PFF’s skill development projects in schools in both Karachi
and Islamabad, as well as upgrade football fields in both areas. “The projects

being funded will have a strong focus on
promoting youth participation in football. I am particularly pleased that one
of the PFF’s projects will focus entirely
on bringing youth girls in football,” he
maintained. The PFF General Secretary
thanked the Australian Government and
especially Australian Deputy High Commissioner Paul Molley for their interest
in the development of football at youth
level in Pakistan. Deputy High Commissioner particularly mentioned the hard
work done by the project coordinator
Shahid Khokar of PFF.
The purpose of ASoP program is to
complement larger community development schemes, especially for youth and
women worldwide through sport and
physical activity. The ASoP is funded by
AusAID and managed by Australian
Sports Commission (ASC).

dence to protect... from the air,” he wrote.
The infantry is crippled with “deficiencies”
and lacks night fighting equipment, while
the elite special forces are “woefully short”
of “essential weapons.” Singh also told The
Hindu newspaper this week that he had informed Defence Minister AK Antony of a
$2.8 million bribe offered to him in 2010,
leading to questions as to why the government had not ordered an enquiry.
Antony has since scrambled to quell
the controversy and has ordered a probe by
the Central Bureau of Investigation police
force. He also attempted to shift the blame
to Gen Singh, saying he had not made a
written complaint. Speaking amid an uproar in parliament over the leaked letter,
Antony said that the government had
made efforts to ensure transparency in
India’s notoriously corrupt defence procurement processes. “we have equally
taken care to speed up the modernisation
of the armed forces. By doing that only we
can assure national security and we can
protect every inch of our motherland,” he
told lawmakers.
India remains concerned over China’s
military build-up along the countries’ disputed border — the trigger for a brief war

AFP

NDIA’S tank fleet lacks ammunition, its air defences are “97 percent obsolete” and its elite forces
need essential weapons, the country’s army chief wrote in an explosive letter leaked on wednesday.
The letter to the prime minister dated
March 12 — widely reported by the Indian
media — lists shortcomings of the armed
forces in embarrassing detail in a serious
blow to the government and the Asian
giant’s military prestige.
Its publication also ups the stakes in a
public battle between army chief General
VK Singh and the government which began
with a dispute over Singh’s retirement earlier this year. “The state of the major (fighting) arms i.e. mechanised forces, artillery,
air defence, infantry and special forces, as
well as the engineers and signals, is indeed
alarming,” Singh wrote in the letter, DNA
newspaper reported.
The army’s entire tank fleet is “devoid of
critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks”,
while the air defence system is “97% obsolete and it doesn’t give the deemed confi-

between the Asian giants in 1962 — and
faces arch-foe Pakistan to its west.
In the letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gen Singh reportedly
blames the slow procurement process and
lack of urgency among bureaucrats for the
“hollowness” of the 1.13-million-strong
military, the fourth largest in the world.
Senior opposition leader Arun Jaitley
from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
complained of the “alarming situation” in
which “letters which are otherwise intended to be secret and meant to be kept
secret find there way into the media.”
“The fact that they can be leaked and
come into the public domain itself is a matter of serious concern,” he told parliament.
The letter is likely to lead to a further deterioration in relations between General
Singh and his civilian bosses.
The army chief, who faces mandatory
retirement this May at the age of 62, was
angered after losing a bid to stay in office
an extra year by changing his birth date
registered in army records. He claimed the
birth date was wrongly recorded. His complaints of poor equipment and operational
difficulties also run contrary to government defence spending announcements

and
recent
studies showing
India as the world’s
biggest
military
hardware importer.
The government
this month announced a 17-percent rise in defence
spending to $40 billion in its budget for
2012/13 — following a
12-percent increase in
the previous budget.
Between 2007 and
2011, India overtook China
to be the biggest arms importer, accounting for 10 percent of the global arms market,
according to recent data from the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). India’s military is also negotiating to acquire a slew
of new equipment from combat aircraft
to submarines and artillery. It is currently finalising a deal with France’s
Dassault Aviation to buy 126 Rafale
fighter jets in a contract worth an estimated $12 billion.

LAhORE: A man runs past burning tyres during a protest against
prolonged, unscheduled power outages on Wednesday. ReUteRS

Raising pol price
won’t be
cakewalk for govt
ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT

The government will have to face a tough
time while deciding whether to pass on
the oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s
(oGRA) estimated increase of five to
nine percent or Rs 5 to Rs 9 per litre in
various PoL products with effect from
April 1. An official source said oGRA had
calculated an increasing trend in the
international crude oil prices that had
jumped from $117 per barrel in February
to $124 per barrel in March. The
Pakistani Rupee has further devalued
against the US dollar from Rs 90.73 to Rs
90.93 during the current month. oGRA,
he said, had calculated an increase in the
price of motor spirit (petrol) by Rs 8 per
litre, High octane Blended Component
(HoBC) by Rs 9, High Speed Diesel
(HSD) Rs 5, Light Diesel oil (LDo) Rs 5
and Super Kerosene oil (SKo) by Rs 5.50
per litre. The government is already
shaken by street protests across Punjab
against electricity load shedding and
massive hike in power tariff under fuel
price adjustment and violence in
Karachi, and would be on a slippery
ground if it decides to increase the PoL
prices, he added.

india offers export of
5,000MW to pakistan
MoNITorING DeSK
Indian President Manmohan
Singh told Prime Minister Yousaf
Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the
Seoul nuclear safety summit that
India was willing to export
5,000Mw of electricity to Pakistan
to enable the country meet its energy requirements, Geo News reported on wednesday.
Earlier, the Indian PM told reporters on board his special aircraft while returning from a
four-day visit to South Korea that
Gilani had asked him if India could
supply power to Pakistan from
Punjab. “I said we will look into it,”
he said.
welcoming Pakistan’s move to
liberalise trade with India, Singh
said he could visit the neighbouring country if there was something
solid to celebrate. “I had a good
meeting with him (Prime Minister
Yousaf Raza Gilani). I thanked him
for the trade concessions that they
have announced,” the Indian
prime minister said.
Singh said he thanked the Pakistani prime minister for the trade
concessions his government had

Violent demonstrations against massive
electricity blackouts remained in full swing
across Punjab on wednesday as well, reports said.
Reportedly the most affected cities remain
Lahore, Sargodha, and Faisalabad.
In Sargodha, demonstrators resorted to
vandalism as well as arson as they threw the
merchandise out of a number of shops and set
it on fire.
In Lahore, protesters in Township area
protested against fuel price adjustment (FPA)
charges in electricity bills and refused to pay
the bills.
They requested officials at a LESCo Customer Service Centre for redressing their
problem, but were denied by the officials. It infuriated the protesters and made them attack
the office. The demonstrators turned the office
upside down, breaking the furniture down to
pieces.
Also, traders in various areas of the city
protested against load shedding.
on The Mall, the traders protested against
unscheduled load shedding. Similarly in
Mughalpura, Mustafabad, wahdat Road and
other areas, people came on the roads against

the massive outages.
The load shedding remained high in all
parts of the city despite tall claims by PEPCo.
A LESCo spokesman said there would be no
relief for the consumers in the head of FPA for
the month of August 2011 and they would have
to pay the bills at every cost. However, in the
next bills there would be no such charges until
the government decides the issue.
In Faisalabad, daily-wagers flooded the
streets against unscheduled load shedding despite an assurance by the Faisalabad Electric
Supply Company (FESCo) of cutting the outages down. Protesters also poured onto
Samundari Road, Sudhar Bypass, Nerdwala
Road and Sargodha Road to give their anger
the needed vent against sweeping power load
shedding.
Meanwhile, 10 independent power producers (IPPs) warned of shutting down the
plants if the government failed to pay their arrears, an amount close to Rs 320 billion, by
April 19.
“IPPs have decreased power generation to
about 50 percent after their dues have crossed
all time high,” official sources said.
The IPPs that have issued a notice to the
government include Nishat Chunian, Nishat
Power, Liberty, Atlas, Hall-more, Safe, Saffire,
orient, Ravish and Saba Power companies.

made to India recently.
Singh said Gilani asked him
when he was coming to Pakistan
on an official visit. “He (Gilani)
said when are you coming there
(Pakistan). So, I said let us do
something solid so that we can celebrate,” Singh said.
“It was a pull aside, but a little more extended,” Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai
said of the two PMs meeting.
while Singh was accompanied by
Mathai and National Security
Adviser Shivshankar Menon, Gilani was accompanied by Foreign
Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
Pakistan’s trade concessions
were seen as a move towards
granting India the ‘Most
Favoured Nation’ status under
world Trade organisation rules
and a major boost towards normalising economic ties.
Later briefing reporters on the
meeting, Mathai said both leaders
believed that things were moving
quite well in bilateral relations.
He said Singh appreciated the
fact that discussions on trade relations had moved forward as committed by Gilani.